RWBY: Chessmasters of Remnant
by Aoshi19
Summary: This is a cross-over of RWBY and Searching for Bobby Fischer. (Rated T for mild language) Jaune has rekindled his love for chess after he wins a game at the Vale Central Park. The story revolves around the hero's ability to balance his chess training with his social life, as well as the conflicting philosophies between some of his friends and mentors.
1. Chapter 1: You Got Rooked!

Chapter 1

It was a fresh and brand new day at the prestigious Beacon Academy. Saturdays were always the days that students capitalized on the most because it was typically their only day to get their mind off of classes, homework, and combat. To no surprise, Jaune was the most notorious student for letting the weekend be his day to slack off and do nothing but play video games, spend hours procrastinating on the internet, and walk around the campus contemplating on the meaning of life. To put it in simple terms, he liked to call it his "me time."

"Another freakin' day of… wait a sec it's Saturday…" Jaune said in response to his scroll's morning alarm. The blonde leader eased himself up into a sitting position, and took a long deep breath to say his short pep speech. "My name is Jaune Arc, and once again I live to see another beautiful day. The sun is warm… and the grass is green."

"Jaune! Jaune, are you in there?" Pyrrha's voice said through the door. The unexpected morning call immediately snapped Jaune out of his morning trance.

"Yes Pyrrha, I'm up. Now I just need to get myself dressed and ready for the day. Where'd did Ren and Nora run off to? Jaune asked while getting out of the bed.

"They're already finishing breakfast downstairs. Please hurry or we're going to be late." Pyrrha pleaded.

"Late for what? Okay fine, I'll be done in about 10 minutes." The young hero answered back. "Good thing I showered last night." He muttered to himself. Afterwards, Jaune bolted out of the dorm, zipped passed Pyrrha and ran straight for the shower room. He only spent five minutes getting cleaned up, which the teenage boy felt was rather impressive for a guy his age. After the shower, he hurried back up to the room to get dressed while not even noticing that he passed by Nora and Ren and made it back to the room.

"Jaune, don't forget to-"

"Yes, I know Pyrrha. Gotta brush my teeth!" Jaune said very fast to the gladiator after he closed the door. He rushed to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and raced back to the closet.

"That's not what I meant." Pyrrha sighed.

"I'll just grab this, and this, and that should do it." Said Jaune. After he finished getting dressed, Jaune grabbed his scroll and finally came out the door to join his crew. "Alright team, your main man is ready for action!" Ren and Nora's jaws hung open in shock while Pyrrha giggled and tried hard not to laugh out out. To their surprise, Jaune was wearing a green shirt with a castle silhouette and a slogan saying "You got rooked!" as well as khaki shorts, sandals, and a navy blue bucket hat.

"Jaune, you might want to take a look at your shirt." Ren pointed out. Jaune looked down and was shocked to see what it said.

"Holy crap, I remember now..." Suddenly, Jaune got quiet and had quick flashbacks of instances with him playing chess as a youth. It became obvious to everyone else that he was now in a complete stupor.

"Jaune, is something the matter?" Pyrrha asked with great concern.

"Nothing, it's fine. Anyway, we'd better get moving." Said Jaune. With all of his morning chores done, Team JNPR embarked on their Saturday adventure.

* * *

Outside of the dorm, they saw Team RWBY standing as if they had been waiting for a while. Yang and Ruby bursted into laughter when they saw Jaune in his unexpected attire. Weiss and Blak both facepalmed and shook their heads.

"Wow! Looks like vomit boy used the wrong side of the closet today." Yang laughed.

"Nope, we just had to rush him, that's all." Nora cheerfully answered.

"I mean hey, what's so bad about wearing something different every now and then." Jaune added. "Don't ya'll get tired of wearing the same attire every day?" Everyone else stood quietly and looked around, not knowing if Jaune was being helpful or insulting. "I'm sorry, forget I said that. Anyway, what exactly do you all have planned for today. I was just going to-"

"Watch Red vs. Blue, play your addicting video games, walk for hours while talking to yourself like a crazy homeless guy. Yep, we know you too well." Ruby interjected. "But not today Jaune! Because we planned this whole day just for you!"

"For me!? Why?!" Jaune asked in confusion. "I mean, yeah we're friends and all, but I really don't think anyone should be too concerned about me."

"We DO care about you Jaune, and I know that you know this deep down inside." Pyrrha added.

"Look, I know you all too well, and you're probably all just saying that just to drag me into some crazy life threatening situation. If this has anything to do with Grimm, the White Fang, or that weird orange haired guy with the bowler hat… hold on, it might not even be any of that; this has to be prank. Yang's probably gonna take me to some night club while Nora spikes my drink with some weird ass drug that gets me all loopy and stuff. Am I right?" Jaune rhetorically demanded.

"I'm not gonna lie, he does know me pretty well." Yang chuckled.

"And me as well." Nora joked. Weiss shook her head in annoyance.

"Look Jaune, I respect your desire to have time to yourself. Believe, me, I know from experience. But we have to know how to balance our private time with our social lives." Said Blake.

"What she says is true, Jaune. Granted, you do get on my nerves most of the time, but that still doesn't mean you should be a loner your whole life." Weiss said assertively.

"Wow, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" Jaune squeeled.

'Don't get your hopes up." Weiss sneered. Pyrrha tried her best to ignore the interaction.

"Jaune, please… for us and for… yourself." Pyrrha begged. Jaune broke eye contact from the group, looked down and thought to himself for about five seconds and looked back up.

"Alright… I'll go. As long as we don't get into any crazy shenanigans!" Jaune stated. Everyone let out a hooray just to show how glad they were to get the introverted boy out of his shell.

"There's a bullhead loading passengers right now. It should be heading for Vale pretty soon." Said Ren.

"Right, let's go team. Time for adventure!"

* * *

After the eight friends finally arrived in Vale, they all looked around the main plaza area to see what was available.

"So, what should we do first?" asked Jaune. Pyrrha nodded to Nora and Ren in a subtle way that nobody else quite understood.

"There's a lot to see and do around here. It'll be easier if we split up and regroup later." Ren suggested.

"Ooh, I know. How about Ren and I go shop for some dust. We completely forgot to restock last week." Said Nora as she and Ren headed east.

"I know of a good bar where the three of us ladies can go chill." Yang said, looking over at Weiss and Blake.

"Wait, don't you mean the four of us?" Ruby implied.

"Sorry lil' sis, you're too young for the place where we're going." Yang corrected. "We'll catch ya'll later." Yang, Blake, and Weiss headed north, leaving only Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha.

"I guess that leaves just the three of us." Said Jaune.

"Actually, I just realized I have an errand to do. Gotta go!" Ruby winked at Pyrrha and then used her super speed to zip away.

"She may be small, but boy can she move quick!" Said Jaune.

"So, looks like it just you and me." Pyrrha said placing her hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"I got an idea! There's a comic book store around here I've always wanted to check out. Let's go there first." Jaune suggested.

"If, that's what you like." Pyrrha said with a light smile. Unknown to either of them, Ruby was watching from the corner of an alleyway.

"I hope this works." Ruby said to herself.

* * *

A few hours had passed since Team RWBY and Team JNPR arrived in Vale. Jaune and Pyrrha had already visited a few shopping outlets during their time together. Suddenly, Pyrrha felt her scroll vibrate which she knew indicated a text message. When she opened it, the message was from Ruby and it read:

'How's everything going with Jaune?' Pyrrha typed in replied. 'Fine, I guess. He seems okay but I can tell he's still bored.'

Ruby messaged back. 'Don't give up, I'm sure he'll come around 😊.' After reading the message, a lightbulb lit up in Pyrrha's mind.

"You know Jaune, I actually think that hat helps bring out the color of your eyes." Pyrrha complimented. "Even though you were probably in a hurry, you're very good at matching your clothes."

"Thank you, Pyrrha. I'm glad somebody appreciates my choice of apparel for today." Jaune said happily. "Back when my dad was a teen, he used to watch this show called _Good Times_ which of course isn't even on the air anymore. Every time I wore this hat, my dad would call me JJ, who was one of the main characters, and then I would yell out "DYNO-MITE!"" Pyrrha gave a small giggle, knowing that her idea was working just a little bit. As they were walking, Jaune noticed a particular pathway that caught his attention.

"I think I know where we are now. This sidewalk should take us all the way to park. It'll be a good change for scenery for us." Jaune implied.

"That's sounds lovely!" Said Pyrrha. She grabbed Jaune's hand and headed to their next destination.

The cute couple eventually made it to Central Park Square, a small area where middle aged men were all sitting at park tables playing chess. At each table, there was a chessboard and a clock that the players would hit after making a move. The games were going so quick the chess pieces sounded like rain drops. Most of the park players were trash talking, smoking, and handing each other things under the table that looked rather suspicious, and possibly illegal. Jaune looked very excited watching all of the games, while Pyrrha on the other hand was completely out of their comfort zone.

"Um, Jaune. I don't we should be around here…" Pyrrha said, feeling very uneasy about the people surrounding them.

"Jaune, what are you staring at?" Pyrrha asked. The young huntress then saw exactly what Jaune was so fixated on. An old man was sitting at a park table by himself and had a chessboard set up. He also had a cardboard sign that read "Will play for $5." Jaune was certain that the man was waiting for somebody to play.

"Pardon me, sir. Is it okay we play a quick game?" Jaune asked. The old man just stared quietly at him and pointed to the sign where the fee was indicated.

"Hold on, let me check my… Damnit! I knew I should've withdrawn some earlier!" Jaune said, scolding himself.

"Wait, hold on! This should cover it." Pyrrha hurried over to the man, handing him money. The gruff old timer quickly snatched it out of the spartan's hand and looked back at Jaune.

"Game of five, no second delay, and no takebacks!" the man stated.

"Deal. Now let's play!" Jaune said in his game-on voice while starting the speed clock. The man made the first move with white, and quickly hit the clock. Jaune, who had the black pieces, moved a pawn and hit the clock again. Piece by piece, both players got their pieces through the opening and were already in the middle game.

Pyrrha watched in aww as Jaune and the stranger kept blitzing move after move. There were exchanges, attacks, counterattacks, defensive maneuvers, and various tactics going on which added great quality to the game. Some of the other park players stopped what they were doing and put their attention on Jaune's game. As Pyrrha watched, she noticed something rather unusual, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. Suddenly, it dawned on her, but she chose not to say anything. Now in the endgame, each player had less than a minute on the clock. Jaune was still eager and optimistic while the old man was getting very nervous. A couple moves later with only ten seconds remaining, Jaune slid his queen to the back rank and mated the white king.

"Checkmate!" Jaune declared. The man was completely dumbfounded and could not believe what has just happened.

"I don't believe it!" the man exclaimed. "Your moves and playstyle. You remind of someone… from my past."

"Wow, I feel very honored sir. But whom are you referring to?" Jaune curiously wondered.

"You'll find out soon enough." The man said with a kind chuckle. "I see great potential in you." He handed Jaune back the $5, and then they both shook hands and bided farewell.

"Jaune, you were great! I never knew you played chess!" Pyrrha said in amazement.

"It's all good. I just caught a lucky break." Jaune said with modesty. Shortly after, a dark-skinned man from another table quickly came up to Jaune.

"I saw that game you were in earlier. What's your name?" the man asked.

"Jaune, don't tell them your last…"

"Arc, Jaune Arc." Jaune answered, ignoring Pyrrha.

"I'm Vinnie. You play good, Jaune. I'll be lookin' for ya next time. Don't be a stranger now!" Vinny said as Jaune and Pyrrha left the park.

"Wow, I made some new friends. This is so awesome!" Jaune shouted in joy. Then, Jaune's stomached growled.

"Looks like you could go for a good lunch." Pyrrha noted. "Let's find the others."

"Sounds good. I'll message Ren and Nora to meet back at the entrance. You should also let Team RWBY know." Said Jaune.

A few minutes later, Jaune and Pyrrha were the first ones to make it back to the same place they were at before the whole group split. Not too long after, Ruby zipped in.

"Sorry I'm late! How did everything go?" Ruby asked.

"You should've seen it, Ruby. Jaune won a game of chess." Pyrrha answered.

"Wow that's… awesome! Who did he play?"

"It was an older gentleman in the park." Jaune stated.

"Look, there's Weiss, Blake, and Yang."

"Girls, you're not gonna believe this! Jaune beat this weird homeless guy in chess!"

"He what!?" Weiss, Blake, and Yang all said at once.

"Girls, it's true. He knows how to play chess!" Pyrrha replied.

"That's preposterous!" Weiss refuted. "How can that stupid…" Before the heiress could finish her insult, Pyrrha and Ruby both gave her a displeased look. "I mean… good job Jaune."

"Hey it's cool. I know it may seem farfetched for a guy like me to play that kind of game."Jaune said, politely shrugging off Weiss's cold comment. He then got quiet and thought to himself. "To be honest, it brought back great memories from my childhood. The five girls immediately drew their attention to the blonde boy upon hearing his statement. "My father taught me chess when I was six years old, and then every once in a while, I played my sisters and friends. Not to brag too hard, but I actually won the majority of my games."

"That's great. If you're passionate about something and put your mind to it, there's no telling how far you can climb the latter." Said Blake. "I learned to play chess from an old friend… unfortunately I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again." Yang already had a feeling whom Blake was talking about, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, we should find Ren and Nora and get some lunch. There's supposed to be a really good lunch buffet near the shopping strip. Let's go team!" As Jaune lead the way, Weiss skeptically looked at him from behind.

"Those men at the park… they may be a bunch of hoodlums, but they are no pushovers. If that annoying flirt can win even one game against them, that must mean that he's… oh who am I kidding, he must have had beginner's luck." Weiss thought to herself and shook her head.

"Is something the matter, Weiss?" Blake asked with concern. Weiss snapped out of her train of thought and was started all of the sudden.

"Nothing! Just daydreaming." Said Weiss. "We'd should probably get something to eat now. Let's follow them."

As soon Team RWBY and Team JNPR had left the area, a tan mustached man wearing a dark coat and fedora sat at a park bench and looked around.

"Hmm, a new chess player at Beacon, eh? This should be very… entertaining." The man gave a rather sinister chuckle and sipped his coffee cup.


	2. Chapter 2: In Passing

Chapter 2

The weekend went by fast for Jaune; at least for him it did. The excitement he had from going to Vale was stuck in his, even on a Monday. Usually the chivalrous teen loathed at the thought of morning classes because he had Dr. Oobleck and Professor Goodwitch back-to-back; his least favorite classes. This time things were different. While Dr. Oobleck was lecturing faster than an auctioneer, Jaune had been forming a plan about what he would do in a sparring match in case he was to be called to the stage. Luckily for him, the green haired professor did not catch the boy class was dismissed, it was immediately time to go straight to combat class.

"I'll be damned if this idea doesn't work." Jaune said to himself as he was walking past other students down the halls. He was looking over his battle plan on a sheet of paper, in which he was lucky not to bump into other incoming pedestrians. Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha were coming from around the corner and saw their dorky male friend. When Jaune noticed the girls, he instantly stowed away his paper.

"Hey chess player!" Yang called out. Jaune was relieved to be by a more positive nickname instead of vomit boy.

"Hey girls. What a pleasant day it's been." Said Jaune

"You seem rather cheery today. Have you been training super hard for combat?" asked Ruby.

"Yes, I mean no! Ok fine dammit, you caught me! I forgot to practice over the weekend. There was too much on my mind. There, you happy?" Jaune stressed. The girls didn't say anything but simply shrug.

"Let's go ahead to class. We don't want to be late for Goodwitch." Said Pyrrha. The rest followed and made it to class in time.

* * *

During class, Jaune quietly observed every student's fighting style and jotted down notes on his sheet.

"They'll be in for a real shock when they see my new moves." Jaune thought to himself and smiled as he looked over his strategy guide. Suddenly, the stern professor made an announcement.

"Attention class. I know some of you are probably ready to leave already, but there is still 10 minutes left, and I think it would be appropriate if we had one more match to conclude the day." Goodwitch announced. The students except Jaune were all whispering amongst each other on whom they thought was going to get called up.

"Mr. Winchester." The tall cocky leader of Team CRDL got up from his chair and made way up front. "And Mr. Arc, please come forward."

"Game time." Jaune muttered with a serious tone. As the white knight stepped up, Cardin noticed something different in the situation.

"That look in his eye. Jauney boy's got somethin' up his sleeve. Whatever it is, I'm not fallin' for it." Cardin thought. Up on the giant monitor, Goodwitch generated the stats of both fighters and filled up the aura gauge.

"Fighters, take your stance…" The professor instructed. "And begin!"

Jaune took two steps forward towards Cardin and immediately stopped; while holding his shield raised but sword lowered. This caught the attention of everybody watching because they were so used to Jaune recklessly attacking from the get-go. Cardin took only one step forward, trying to que in on what Jaune was planning. The hero then stepped sideways twice and then one step forward, still focused on his opponent. Goodwitch was also baffled by the awkward choice of moves, but it only made things more interesting. Losing his patience, Cardin decided to heat things up.

"I'm not here to do the tango, Jauney. Come on kid, let's fight!" Cardin screamed. The big teenager took the offensive and executed a quick thrust. Rather than blocking, Jaune side stepped and counter slashed Cardin on the chest. Everybody gasped because they could not believe that Jaune got first blood against the notorious leader of Team CRDL.

"Lucky shot!" Cardin sneered. Jaune got back into his ready position to show that he was ready for more. This time, Jaune chose to go on the offensive, just to make sure that his strategy wasn't too predictable. He targeted Cardin's left shoulder, which prompted the latter to high block with his mace. Cardin broke away and triggered his weapon to blast Jaune, but the boy was too quick. After five unsuccessful shots, Cardin hurled his mace straight forward; forcing Jaune to bend his upper-body to the right. Instantly, Cardin charged forward and jumped forward with an impressive drop kick to Jaune's chest. The white armored teen went flying into the wall close to where his friends were watching. Cardin used the precious time he had to retrieve his mace and prepare for a follow-up attack. The aura bars were about even, and both fighters were already taking some deep breaths.

"You've gotten better, Cardin." Said Jaune

"Same for you, Jauney. But enough talk!" Jaune and Cardin both charged at each other head-on and went into a melee frenzy. Right off the bat the two contestants looked like they were in a reckless brawl, but everyone watching realized that every attack, block, and counter attack was in perfect rhythm. Nobody, even Goodwitch, had a clear idea of who was winning since both fighters had their aura bars down in flashing red. In the middle of the chaos, Cardin horizontally swung his Mace at Jaune's head, but the blonde fighter anticipated this and ducked; with the idea that he would counter with a shield bash. Unfortunately for the swordsman, he forgot to side step, which left him completely exposed. Cardin took advantage of the opportunity by swinging an upward kick to Jaune's face. The force of the attack knocked Jaune off his feet, disarming his sword, and depleted his aura to a tiny sliver, putting the noble hero in a clear losing position. Cardin stepped over and pointed his mace down at Jaune, whom of course was down on his knees completely defenseless. With no options left, Jaune dropped his shield and bowed his head in resignation.

"I surrender Cardin. Good game." Jaune said humbly. Cardin approached his rival and helped him off the ground. The entire class clapped applauded the boys for a spectacular fight, one that they would all be gossiping about for the rest of the day. It was hard to tell whom they were more impressed with. Jaune for his distinctive improvement or Cardin for his unexpected courtesy.

"Still got a long way to go, Jauney boy." Cardin smirked. "You gave me one hell of a match." Cardin withdrew his mace and walked back to his desk.

"Well, at least I gave it my all." Jaune said with a half-smile. He walked back to his corner, picked up Crocea Mors, and took his seat.

"You two put on quite a show today." Goodwitch complimented. "Alright, class dismissed!" As everyone gathered their belongings and exited through the doors, the professor noticed Jaune was still lagging behind.

"Mr. Arc, a word please." Goodwitch beckoned. Jaune nodded and did as he was told.

"Yes ma'am?" asked Jaune.

"Mr. Arc. I can't help but notice that your fighting strategy was rather different today. Care to explain this?" Goodwitch interrogated.

"I know this might sound very ludicrous, but I imagined myself and Cardin in a chess match. Every action we make is like moving a piece. I had to plan ahead and try to predict what he would do and how I would respond to his attacks."

"Hmm, I do find your approach a little unorthodox, but at the same time respectable. Whether you realize it or not, both your skill and your confidence have shown great improvement."

"Thank you, Professor! That really does mean a lot!" Jaune said with happiness.

"Yes yes, now run along." Goodwitch replied. Jaune grabbed his bag and hurried out to the locker room."

"A very odd fellow, but he's still a good kid." Goodwitch said to herself. "Hold on, what's this?" It was the same paper that Jaune was looking over that had all of his tactics and ideas for sparring. Goodwitch noticed that it written exactly how Jaune was describing his thought process.

"This is extraordinary. The boy really knows how to analyze! I must tell Oz about this." Goodwitch said to herself. She folded the paper and tucked it away in her shirt pocket.

* * *

Jaune had managed to get changed back into his school uniform before heading to lunch. In the cafeteria hall, he sat with Team RWBY and his other teammates discussing his epic battle.

"Hey Jaune, I know you probably wanted to win, but I still think you were awesome in that fight!" said Ruby

"You've made some good progress this semester, I'll give ya that." Yang added.

"It was just a good day for me. Everybody knows I'm still the weakest student here." Jaune shrugged. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all frowned and broke eye contact, knowing that their leader still refused to give himself enough credit. Suddenly, Jaune's scroll vibrated which meant he had a message. Without pulling it all the way out of his pocket, Jaune took a quick peak and saw that it was a message from the headmaster.

"Um, guys. I gotta run to the bathroom!" Jaune said as he immediately bolted out of the cafeteria.

"That imbecile. We know he got a text from someone." Weiss scowled.

"Unless his scroll knows his body." Nora joked.

"I think I just lost my appetite." Blake said in mild disgust. Shortly after, bell rang which meant that the lunch period was over.

"Hopefully Jaune can make it to class in time." Said Ren

"He'll be fine. Our leader never breaks a promise. We're talking about the guy who wore a dress over his own lost bet!" Nora laughed. With that said, everyone left the cafeteria.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaune finally made it into a restroom without being detected by any of his friends. As soon as he got in an unoccupied stall, the blonde instantly opened his scroll. The voice message was from Ozpin and it read:

'Please meet me in my office after your last class for today. I'll explain everything later.'

"Alright Jaune, you've got a mission. Get through the day and see the big cheese." Jaune said to himself. He then proceeded to make it to his next class.

* * *

Once classes were done, Team RWBY and Team JNPR; minus Jaune, were heading back to their dorms. None of them had seen the boy wonder since he made the quick exit during lunch.

"I swear on Monty Oum's grave, if Jaune is still getting himself involved with Cardin and his goons, I'll…"

"Easy, Pyrrha! The Bully Arc is a thing of the past. Heh, Bully Arc! Get it?" Yang joked.

"Seriously though, Yang. We haven't seen Jaune since lunch. Where the heck could he be?" Ruby whined.

"Jaune seems way too relaxed around Cardin, anyway. I doubt there's any trouble between them. I'm sure he'll be fine." Said Blake.

"We're almost at the dorm. I'll be inside." Said Ren as he and Nora left the group.

"Ruby, there's something I've wanted to ask you." Pyrrha beckoned.

"I'll be in soon. You three go on ahead." Ruby said to her team. Weiss, Blake, and Yang went on ahead to their dorm to retire for the day.

"It's funny that you called me over, Pyrrha. Did you notice anything weird about Jaune during combat class? He seemed like a completely different person." Ruby noted

"My thoughts exactly, Ruby. When I watched Jaune spar against Cardin, I could tell that the way he was fighting was nothing like how I train him during our private sessions. His moves and decisions were all very well planned and coordinated. He only made one or two major errors that threw the match away." Pyrrha explained. Right after she finished her statement, the spartan remembered something else she had previously observed. "Now I understand! It's chess! Jaune is applying the same principles from chess into combat!"

"I think you're right, Pyrrha! If we know Jaune well enough, then he's probably hanging out in the library reading a chess book or playing a game with another student." Ruby assumed. "If that's the case, then we have nothing to worry about."

"Hmm, I guess you're right. Maybe I'm being a little too overprotective." Pyrrha said, trying to ease herself

"Well, I'd better be going now. Let me know if everything is okay." Said Ruby. The two friends waved goodbye and left for their dorms.

"He'll be alright… I just have to believe." Pyrrha thought to herself.

* * *

In the late afternoon, Jaune made it all the way up to Ozpin's office; a place that he would've never imagined being so high above the campus.

"Hello sir. I got your message from earlier." Jaune said nervously.

"Indeed. I received word Professor Goodwitch that put on quite a show today in combat class. She even told me your little secret to giving Mr. Winchester a good fight." Said Ozpin.

"Yes sir, about that…. I think I might've just had a lucky break. I have NEVER come this close to potentially beating Cardin. "Let alone all my other classmates."

"Still modest as usual, Mr. Arc." Ozpin commented. "Then explain this." The old professor whipped out the paper that Jaune accidently left behind in class that had his battle tactics. "It baffles me and my staff how incredibly analytical and imaginative you are, despite having the least amount of practical experience compared to your classmates."

"I really don't know how to describe it, sir. It is what it is." Jaune answered kindly.

"Regardless, this still impresses me. Out of all the years that Glynda and I have been at Beacon, we have never had a student use chess as a comparable medium. What inspired you to come up with that strategy, if you don't mind me asking?" Jaune took a deep breath and adjusted his composure to better comfort himself.

"During my visit in Vale, I played a homeless man in chess at the Central Park. I won the game, but I wasn't expecting to win. I haven't played the game since I was 10 years old." Jaune explained. "He said that I reminded him of someone from his past." Ozpin glanced back at the student.

"I know this might sound very cliché Mr. Arc, but the stranger was most likely referring to a former prodigy that changed the future of chess."

"And who might this person be?"

"His name." Ozpin then took a quick sip of his coffee. "Is Bobby Fischer."

"Wait a minute, I remember now! My father used to tell me stories about how he was the first Remnant champion from Vale! Bobby Fischer defeated the reigning Atlas champion Boris Spassky!"

"Correct, and the reason that victory was so significant was because Fischer made chess become much more popular in Vale. Even I will admit that he influenced me to some extent. Just take a look at the relics in Emerald Forest. Do you think it was just mere coincidence that I chose chess pieces?" Jaune shook his head, knowing that Ozpin wasn't just talking nonsense. "If I recall, you and your other teammates choose the white rook, which also happens to be the same piece on the shirt you wore last Saturday, am I correct?" Jaune nodded.

"Hey, how did you know about the shirt I was wearing!?" Jaune freaked.

"I know what goes on around my school; more than you can imagine." Ozpin chuckled. "Back to what I was saying. The truth Jaune, is that I chose chess for the team inductions not solely because of Bobby Fischer, but really because the pieces symbolize the roles that we play in life as well as the decisions that we all have to make. We are all kings on our own board, but you might be a different piece on someone else's. The board symbolizes life while the pieces represent who we know in our lives.

"Gosh Professor, I never knew that chess could be so, deep. And about Fischer. What happened to him after he beat Spassky." Jaune asked.

"He disappeared. Nobody knows where he went, how he did it, or why." Ozpin said while putting his empty cup back on his desk. "Twenty years later, he resurfaced and challenged Spassky to an unofficial championship match. He won again but it costed him citizenship, due to an embargo law that was enforced between Vale and Vacuo. After Fischer refused to pay the tax from his winnings, he never returned to Vale and has since stayed out of the public eye. Nobody except for only his closest friends knew of his whereabouts until he died from health issues." To Ozpin's surprise, Jaune became more fascinated with story.

"After listening to this, it makes me think about what kind of person Fischer was in the inside." Jaune pondered. "What do you think was his incentive to become the first world champion from Vale? Did he do it for his pride, his family, or maybe something else?"

"All I can say about Fischer is that he was a very complicated person. A genius with raw talent, but also very reclusive and troubled." Jaune couldn't help but feel empathetic towards the legendary chess player after hearing all of this. "Mr. Arc, if I offered to coach you in chess, would you accept the offer?" Ozpin proposed. Jaune's face beamed up and looked even happier than a kid walking into a candy store.

"Absolutely! When do we start?" Jaune quickly asked.

"Easy there, Jaune. I applaud your enthusiasm, but we need to lay down some ground rules. First and foremost, this does not come before your studies under any circumstance. Secondly, I must warn you that chess can be very addicting game, especially at the competitive level; believe me, I am no stranger to this. Of course, that was years ago and now I'm way too old to compete like I used to."

"That's great, Professor! Is there anything I need to provide?"

"I already have a board that we can use in my office. Normally most private instructors charge an hourly fee for their lessons; however, I will make an exception with you." Jaune was speechless, honored, and humbled from Ozpin's offer. "BUT! You must NOT tell anybody about this. Glynda would kill me if she knew I was giving freebies, even to one of our own students."

"I promise, sir." Jaune stated.

"Having said all of this, are you sure that you still want to press on with training? Jaune returned a serious nod to signal his confirmation. "Very good. We shall start tomorrow at dusk." Having said everything necessary, Jaune gave a polite bow and exited the office. Ozpin picked up his coffee mug and looked out the window.

"He has only four months from now until the big day." Ozpin said to himself, taking one more sip of coffee. "I hope he can do it."


	3. Chapter 3: The Tournament Announcement

Chapter 3

It was Thursday afternoon. Classes were done for the day, but there were still plenty of students hanging out on campus. Jaune had managed to talk Team RWBY and Team JNPR into meeting at the library so he could share his special announcement.

"Ladies and gents, it is my greatest pleasure to share with you all the Beacon chess tournament coming up in May!" Jaune proudly announced. "It is going to be a Five Round Swiss tournament, Game of 120 minutes for each player, and five second delay. 1st place gets a trophy. Also, on behalf of our Beacon staff, boards and clocks with be provided." Jaune passed the flier to everyone else to share the details. Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren had nervous expressions and appeared to know something the others did not understand. On the contrary, Weiss had a devious smile when she looked at an important detail.

"You might want to read this, tournament boy." Weiss said as she showed the flier to Jaune and pointed at a sentence he overlooked.

"VCF membership required. Hey, what gives? Damn it, this is supposed to be a school event!" Jaune snapped.

"It's not that hard to become a member, Jaune. Just got on the Vale Chess Federations website, and it shouldn't take long to register." Said Blake. Jaune had to take a few deep breaths to regain his composure.

"Sorry, Blake. I didn't meat to get so carried away." Jaune apologized. To everyone's surprise, two familiar faces; one dark toned girl and a boy with grey hair approached the table.

"Hey everyone!" Emerald said with a cheery plastic smile.

"Hey Em! Hey Merc! We're were just listening to Jaune talk about a tournament." Said Yang

"A tournament? What kind of tournament are we talkin' about?" Mercury asked

"A chess tournament that will be here at Beacon. I'm gonna compete this year and give it my all!" Jaune proudly stated.

"Do either of you play chess? It would be great to have more third-party students competing." Blake said, indirectly inviting the two outsiders.

"I would be honored, but I'm just a fan. I would get crushed so badly." Emerald said, trying to hold back her sarcasm as much as possible.

"As for me, I'm more of a checkers guy. I suck at chess." Mercury said casually. Emerald had to hold back a grin because of the bald-faced lies.

"I just thought of something. We should all register together!" Nora eagerly said to her friends.

"Good idea! Team RWBY and Team JNPR representin'!" Yang cheered.

"That's great. I wish the best of luck to all of you." Emerald said. "Anyway, we have to go now." The dangerous duo left the library to hurry back to their private business.

"That boy. Ever since I fought him, he's always given off this weird vibe." Pyrrha observed.

"Relax. He's probably just mad because you whooped him in class that one time." Said Yang

"Yeah… whooped…" Pyrrha said quietly to herself.

"Anyway, back to what we were saying. Yes Nora, that's brilliant! That will certainly boost the player count and give the faculty and staff more incentive to continue chess." Said Jaune. "Alright guys, I think we know our mission. I hate to make this short, but I gotta run!"

"Hold it right there! You've been staying on campus after hours since Monday. Can you please tell us the reason behind all of this?" Pyrrha demanded. Everybody else looked up Jaune, just so they could back up the redhead.

"Alright, no more games." Jaune said in resignation. "If you really want to know what's going on with me, I've been taking private chess lessons to help better myself. I have nothing else to hide, so I hope you're all happy now. Anyway, I don't want to be late." Jaune excused himself from the group and hurried away.

"See, I knew it all along. Jaune's just trying to get better at chess." Ruby gladly said to Pyrrha.

"He sounded a little angry, to say the least." Said Nora.

"He never said whom he was getting lessons from. Perhaps Dr. Oobleck, or maybe Professor Port." Ren guessed.

"You never know. Whoever the instructor is, it could be another student." Blake added.

"We should start heading back to our rooms. We still have another day tomorrow until the weekend." Said Pyrrha. The rest of the group slowly got up from the table and made it out of the library. As they were walking outside, Weiss signaled Pyrrha to pull back and follow from behind the group.

"Pyrrha, if I'm not mistaken, you used to play competitively back in Mistral, didn't you?" asked Weiss.

"Yes, but how did you know?" Pyrrha asked back. Weiss opened her scroll and went onto the official VCF site. She then pulled up her own profile, which showed her current rating, tournament history, and general statistics. "Wow Weiss, that's very impressive. Your dad must have taught you and your siblings very well to get you that far up the rating latter."

"Thanks. I wanted to compete in more tournaments, but my father become more obsessed with my singing." Weiss stated. "I also took a look at your profile, and I can't help but ask just one last thing. Why did you not tell Jaune about this?" Pyrrha's facial expression became more solemn after being questioned.

"I think it's best that we wait for Jaune to find out later. If he knew that you, Ren, Blake, or myself were all rated players, it would only cause him to put more pressure on himself." Pyrrha paused for a while and then took a deep breath. "Believe me Weiss, I understand how my teammate thinks. When I watched Jaune play at the park last weekend, it was the first time I had seen him so genuinely happy. I know he tends to act like a goofball sometimes just to impress us, but Jaune is a naturally serious person in the inside. I want my leader to follow his heart and do what he thinks is right. I just want Jaune to know that I… I… I will always be here to help in any way that I can." Weiss felt very terrible and sensed that she may have stuck her nose into a serious discussion matter.

"I'm sorry, Pyrrha. I shouldn't have asked about that. The way you feel about Jaune… he will find out sooner or later." Weiss pointed out. "You believe that, don't you?" Pyrrha slowly nodded her head. "I'd better catch up with my team. I'll see you tomorrow." Pyrrha covered her heart and sighed, still walking behind the others.

* * *

In the headmaster's office, Jaune was going over an opening variation with his trusty mentor. Ozpin was playing white while Jaune had black. Before Jaune could use his knight to take the white pawn on d4, the professor perked his eyebrow.

"That's a blunder, Mr. Arc. If knight takes d4, I'll gladly take back with my knight, and I presume you'll take back with your Queen. What do you think happens next?" Ozpin questioned. Jaune studied the position for a few seconds, and then he gulped.

"Oh crap, you can check my king with your bishop which also opens a discovered attack on my queen."

"Precisely. That is only part of the reason why the light-squared bishop is white's most dangerous weapon. You need to be on your guard against the tactics that can come out of these positions." Ozpin warned. "Another thing Jaune. If you're going to commit to playing the French Defense as black, you have to know all of white's most popular variations, especially the classical and the advanced. They are the two most commonly played in tournament play, regardless of skill level. Anyway, please reset the board." As Jaune was returning the pieces to their original squares, he thought about the conversation in the library.

"Pardon me sir, but I showed the flier to my friends. They seemed very interested." Jaune shared.

"That's good, I suppose." Ozpin answered. "I know how excited you are, but remember that I am not organizing this tournament solely for your entertainment. Beacon always holds a championship chess competition during the spring semester. It has been our tradition since I founded this school, and each year we normally have somewhere between ten to fifteen students compete. In case you are not familiar with the policies, you may want to read this rulebook." Ozpin threw a brown leathered covered book like a frisbee at Jaune, whom then caught it just in the nick of time. The young huntsman looked at the cover which was titled _The Vale Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess – Sixth Edition_. "This book should explain everything you need to know if you choose to compete in a VCF tournament. There's another organization called FIDE that regulates international competitions, but you don't need to worry about for quite a while."

The next thing that I want to point out regarding our lessons is the method of grading. As a kid, you were probably used to getting grades anywhere from A to F. Instead, I will be grading you by points, starting with 100. If you get a right answer, come up with a brilliancy, or basically anything that impresses me, you will receive points. Should you get a wrong answer, slack off, or go against what I say, then I will take away points.

"I wanted to ask you something, Professor. Are there any currently enrolled students have played in tournaments." Jaune asked with the sense of what the answer would most likely be.

"There is already a decent amount of them already, Mr. Arc. In fact, a few of them are already close friends of yours and the others are at well acquainted." Ozpin answered. He pulled out a folder from a drawer, and opened it to reveal a list. After placing it on his desk, Jaune read through and was shocked to see that he was indeed familiar with everybody on listed.

"Yatsuhashi, Dove, Weiss, Coco, Blake, Ren, and even Pyrrha! These guys all have ratings!? Why didn't they tell me this!?" Jaune flustered in shock.

"That is because they all started playing in scholastic tournaments at a young age. Most children never reach until the age of 12. Ms. Nikos was 14 years old when she cracked 1700. After that she put her time into combat and eventually lost interest in the game. I'm sure Ms. Schnee could've made it much higher if it weren't for other obligations. Knowing both of these young ladies, I'm sure they haven't lost their touch at all."

"No doubt about that. Weiss and Pyrrha are both super smart, unlike me." Said Jaune.

"Your homework for tonight is to study and analyze the game between Fischer and Petrosian, and then solve at least six tactics puzzles." Ozpin said, dismissing the Team JNPR leader. After Jaune left, Ozpin began putting away the chessboard and looked back at the tournament flier.

"He's already on a good start. If Jaune stays motivated and disciplined, he can easily reach 1800 by the end of May." Ozpin said to himself.

* * *

Later that evening, Mercury and Emerald were back in their room at the exchange student dorm. Mercury was busy adjusting the gears on his mechanical legs while Emerald was loading dust into her dual pistols.

"What's your impression of the four divas?" Mercury jokingly asked his partner.

"I hate them." Emerald answered without any hesitation.

"Hate whom?" a dark feminine voice asked. Both of the assassins were caught off guard when they saw their leader walk out from a dark corner.

"I apologize, ma'am. We were talking about the four girls that defeated Roman a while back." Emerald answered solemnly.

"That's quite the student, Cinder. We were too busy making fun of them while you snuck in undetected." Mercury complemented to his boss.

"I see. There must have been some encounter you two had with them today, am I correct?" Cinder assumed. The sinister diva turned her attention to Mercury, who had just finished his legs and was reading tournament flier from before. "What's that in your hand?"

"There's some chess tournament coming up in four months from now. The cheery little kids were all bragging about how they were all going to compete." Mercury explained. Cinder turned away and pondered quickly; then looked back at her subordinates.

"Have either one of you played in a tournament before?" Cinder asked.

"I did, back when my old man was still sober. He actually helped me get past 1600." Said Mercury.

"Pretty impressive. How about you, Em?" Cinder asked the thief.

"Me? Yeah, I… did play in a few while I was still a rogue. I had to use the money I stole to play in open tournaments. Last time I checked, my rating was around 1450." Emerald said.

"Fair enough. I will help prepare both of you for the competition. This reminds me of the days when me and one of my… colleagues used to have a little rivalry. Sad to say, he usually got the best of me out of every five games, but I was still strong enough to give the arrogant prick a run for his wallet." Cinder recalled.

"Is this person, still around by any chance?" Emerald asked nervously.

"Trust me, he's around alright. I wouldn't be surprised if Arth-, ahem; I mean my old acquaintance still plays in his free time." Cinder stated. Mercury and Emerald blinked and looked at each other, and then back at the boss. "Almost let it slip." she thought to herself. "As I was saying, I have some old books on chess tactics that should help both of you sharpen up for the tournament. Think of this as my treat to you two for helping me get this far. It should serve as a nice little break from Grimm, stealing dust, and killing off opposition." Cinder pitched a book at Mercury and then a different one at Emerald. "Now get to work. I'll be outside getting some fresh air."

"A nice break? I'd rather hustle another idiot like Tukson than have to read this horse shit." Mercury sneered.

"Just read the damn book." Emerald snapped

Cinder stepped out of the room and opened her scroll. She logged on to and discretely looked up the person she was referring to earlier.

"Still rated 2100 like always." Cinder said under her breath. "That won't matter… after I tear down this wretched school and become the new Fall Maiden."


	4. Chapter 4: Trick or Treat

Chapter 4

Two months had passed since the Beacon Chess Open was announced. Jaune's training with Ozpin was helping him not only with chess, but also with his academics and personal relationships. His grades improved drastically, as well as combat abilities. Even the private sessions with Pyrrha were going great for the noble boy. Weekends were no longer wasted for Jaune; instead he utilized all the extra time he had to bond with his friends and other classmates. It was incredible enough to believe that even the infamous Team CRDL had more respect for the boy they used to bully. Another big change with Jaune was how he used to be coerced into hanging out with other friends, including his teammates. Things had taken a 180 turn because now Pyrrha, one of the most sensible students at Beacon, now had to convince Jaune to spend some time with himself now and then to help ease his mind. The only thing the leader of Team JNPR could think of for relaxation was to go to Vale by himself and chill in the park. Of course, when Jaune had the urge, he would challenge other park players to a quick game of chess. Win or lose, it was all about the fun.

"Good morning, Beacon!" Jaune woke up from the sound of his 8:00 alarm. He got out of bed quickly and changed into a white T-shirt and blue gym shorts. Everyone else was still asleep, much to Jaune's dismay. Once he got on his shoes, Jaune hurried outside for a jog around the campus. Every Sunday morning, he would jog for ten minutes around campus and do some quick push-ups and sit-ups. This was a normal routine for Jaune because he began to embrace the philosophy of a having a healthy mind, body, and soul.

"After my clean shower, I'll go pay Vinnie a visit." Jaune told himself. "If Pyrrha insists that I take a break from Beacon, I might as well hang out at the park." As soon as Jaune finished the shower and got dressed into a different casual wardrobe, he boarded the earliest Bullhead he could find.

* * *

It was already lunchtime. Jaune was finishing his ham sandwich while sitting at a park bench with Vinnie.

"I thought there would be more people here today." Jaune commented. "I was really looking forward to a good crowd.

"Meh, Sundays are always this quiet. How are classes coming along?" Vinnie asked

"Same as usual. I'm also training for the chess tournament this upcoming May." Jaune replied

"Good stuff. Don't go slackin' on your combat skills now. You'll need that for the Vytal Festival." Vinnie reminded. He had gotten to know Jaune well enough to know about Beacon Academy and the Vytal Festical that was scheduled for Fall.

"I hear ya on that. Pyrrha would whoop my butt if I slacked off. Haha, when it comes to aura training, she gets more on my case for that." Jaune joked. "Whatcha looking at, Vinnie?"

"There's a crowd over at Mikael's table." Said Vinnie. "That's definitely out of the loop."

"I remember him. He's the guy I played a few months ago." Said Jaune. "Who could Mikael be playing?" Jaune and Vinnie pondered for a while.

"A new chess player!" They both said at the same time and dashed away from their seats, sprinting towards the crowd. Jaune was getting antsy just thinking about what the commotion was all about. However, things turned out very differently than expected. When he squeezed his way in between a few spectators, Jaune's eager grin changed to a stunned gasp when he saw a mysterious woman in a red dress at the board.

"I don't believe. It's Mercury, Emerald, and…" Jaune did not know her name, but it was Cinder playing a blitz game against Mikael, the same homeless man that Jaune beat during his first park visit. All of the other park denizens and other pedestrians were surrounding the table and watched in aww. It was rare to see a strong chess player in the park, let alone a woman. Emerald and Mercury were standing behind Cinder with their classic smug expressions. Move after move, the pyromancer picked away pieces and had a clear advantage over the old man.

"That girl's good. She might be Vale's next champion." A spectator commented.

"You got that right. She's our mentor, and a very good one for sure." Said Mercury

The position ended with Cinder's Queen and two rooks mating the lone white king. Mikael was stupefied at how badly he was crushed against the dark-haired femme fatale.

"Trick or treat." Cinder said with a seductive and dangerous grin. Jaune thought he was hallucinating at first, but he could've sworn he saw the woman's eyes glow fiery orange.

"Follow me children. We have bigger things to attend to." Cinder ordered her two followers.

"Oops, I think he had a heart attack." Mercury smirked as she looked back at the defeated man. Jaune hid among the crowd of people to make sure he wasn't seen by Cinder or her flunkies. He then approached Mikael, who was still shaken up from the brutal loss.

"Mikael, who was that lady?"

"I don't know… I've never seen or heard of her. I could tell by the way she played that she was more than just a strong player… she's evil…" Jaune looked over in the same direction that Cinder's group headed.

"They lied to me." Jaune muttered.

"Who?" Vinnie asked.

"Nothing… I think I'm ready to call it a day." Said Jaune. Before he had the chance to leave, Pyrrha appeared unexpectedly to greet her leader.

"Hey, Jaune! I figured you would be here around this time." Pyrrha said happily.

"This is great timing, actually. Pyrrha, I'd like you to meet my chess bud Vinnie.

"Pleasure. You got a good man right here." Vinnie said proudly to Pyrrha. He then gave the blonde boy a wink, showing that he knew the connection. Jaune was gracious for the compliment and smiled back. All of the sudden, Jaune felt a wicked omen slowly creep up from the inside. An omen so dark it left a chill to the bone. If there's one thing Jaune did know, he and his friends were not alone.

"What's the matter, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked nervously.

"I don't know how to explain, but I think we're being watched. We'd better go now" Said Jaune. Pyrrha and Vinnie looked around and did not detect anything suspicious.

"You two go on without me. I'll be chillin' around here like always." Vinnie said.

"Bye, Vinnie. It was nice meeting you." Pyrrha said kindly. Vinnie waved goodbye and watched the cute couple leave for the Bullhead loading dock.

"Those are some good kids. They'll go far in life." Vinnie said to himself. As the upbeat park player turned around to walk back to his bench, he thought he saw a quick glance of movement in his peripheral vision. Vinnie looked around again, but saw nothing.

"It's just the wind." Vinnie said.

* * *

In the late afternoon, Jaune was finishing up another private lesson with Ozpin in the headmaster's office. This was the first time that Jaune had been summoned on a weekend; not that he had a problem, but he never expected it to happen.

"Sorry for asking this very late in the lesson, but is there a reason you called me in, sir? You're usually away on the weekend." Jaune questioned.

"I have some very important errands to address this week. I won't be back until this upcoming Thursday, so it's best that we cover as much as possible today." Ozpin answered in a very straight forward fashion. "I trust that your bargain with my lessons is still private knowledge."

"I haven't told anybody about this, sir, not even Pyrrha or my other friends." Jaune said.

"I noticed you were already studying the next position I have set up for you. It should be a good exercise to conclude today's lesson." Ozpin said. "White to play. Mate in four." Jaune concentrated on the board and. looked closely for tactics. "Don't move until you have figured out the entire sequence. Don't even lift a hand."

"But I can't do it without moving the pieces." Jaune complained

Ozpin sipped his coffee and then adjusted his sleeves.

"Well then. Let me make it easier for you." Ozpin swung his arm quickly across the board, scattering all of the pieces. Jaune sat in disbelief and shock as the last pawn rolled to the opposite side of the room. The only thing left on the table was an empty board.

"Oooookayyyy… I won't say that again." Jaune muttered. It then occurred to the noble boy what he needed to do. He got into his thinking position and concentrated deeply, even with no pieces on the board. Jaune recalled where every piece was placed before they were knocked off, and then he found the solution.

"Knight on B6 to C8!" Jaune answered. A smile slowly grew on Ozpin, who was incredibly happy for his pupil.

"That's it!" Ozpin rejoiced. He pulled out scroll and punched in a few numbers. "You've earned fifty points for solving that puzzle; putting you at 1550."

"That's great! Alright Professor, I should be getting back to the dorm now. I'll see you on Thursday."

"Likewise. Oh, one more thing Jaune; Dr. Oobleck wanted me to tell you that he thinks you're doing a great job in class. Keep up the good work." Ozpin, raising his coffee mug to show praise.

"Thank you, sir." Jaune smiled and nodded as he exited through the door. Ozpin looked around and shook his head when he realized something he forgot about.

"I'll pick them first thing in the morning." Ozpin said as he looked at the scattered pieces on the ground.

* * *

Later that night, Jaune was up on the rooftop, resting his elbows up on the concrete edge. He used to go up there more often during his first semester, but the chess lessons and homework had taken most of that free time away. From behind, Jaune heard a pair of heels clacking that he knew were that of his best friend.

"Haven't seen you up here in a long time. It reminds me of our first semester." Said Pyrrha.

"Time does go by fast. It still feels like we only started a month ago." Said Jaune.

"There's something on your mind. I can feel it." Jaune was startled from Pyrrha's keen observation. The redhead blushed just a little bit. "I can read you like a book, Jaune. This is your favorite spot whenever you're in deep thought." Jaune and Pyrrha both looked at the stars and at the shattered moon for a while. "This night feels very familiar. It reminds me of our first encounter out here." Jaune slumped his head down recalling that moment. The flashback of him snapping at Pyrrha and calling himself a loveable idiot raced through his mind, and then the moment when Cardin climbed out the lower window and gave him a headlock noogie.

"I can never forgive myself for that!" Jaune cringed. Pyrrha was started by the sudden reaction, she was afraid that she had triggered a bad nerve. "The way I treated you back then Pyrrha, I deserved to be knocked off the rooftop. All because of my own insecurities and my self-inflated ego. The only thing that mattered to me was winning and not being weak." Once he finished his sentence, Pyrrha knew immediately that Jaune was mad at himself, not her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's cool. This might sound crazy, but that memory helps discipline myself. That way, I don't succumb to fear like I used to." Pyrrha was amazed with Jaune's maturity and his evident growth being presented right in front of her. "Anyway, I'll share with you my thoughts for today. Do you remember when I showed everyone the tournament flier, and then the two Mistral students came up to us?"

"I remember. It was Emerald and Mercury. What about them?"

"I know this is going to sound very off-the-wall but…" Jaune hesitated for a brief moment and then resumed his statement. "They're taking us for fools, Pyrrha. I saw them at Central Park earlier today, and they were watching their team leader play chess. It was clear to me that they understood the game, and they took a lot of pride in seeing their dark-haired friend stomp another player with ease."

"And that's bad because…" Pyrrha said, not seeing any harm in the scenario.

"It just dawned on me. I don't even know her name. She has black hair, wears a long red dress, and walks in high heels." Jaune said.

"If I'm not mistaken, her name is Cinder. She's one of the exchange students around here. Ruby is the only one that has talked to Cinder personally, and she didn't see sense anything wrong." Pyrrha added.

"Thanks. As I was saying, the whole reason I'm bringing this up is because when Cinder beat Mikael at the park, there was something different about her reaction after the game. Instead of having a sense of achievement for her win or showing gratitude, Cinder had this very snide expression as if she enjoyed seeing her opponent lose. And to be honest Pyrrha, that's the real reason I'm bothered about this, even more than Mercury and Emerald feigning ignorance."

"I know you've been working hard getting ready for the tournament. You don't think this might be a little bit of jealousy, now do you?" Pyrrha questioned.

"I promise you this isn't out of envy, and I would never try to slander someone to make myself look better." Jaune said with a very solemn expression. "You of all people have taught me how to defeat negative feelings." Pyrrha picked up on the vibe that her leader was being very dead honest in his brief monologue.

"Jaune. There's something I have wanted to ask you for a long time." Pyrrha contemplated about asking her next question, and then summoned the courage to do so. "Do you remember a lot about your childhood, and is there anything from the past that has made a big impression on you?" Jaune gave a good chuckle and smiled back at his teammate.

"You'd better strap on tight, Pyrrha. It's gonna be one hell of a story."


	5. Chapter 5: The Hot Commodity

Chapter 5

 _Nine years ago_

Jaune and his parents were at a hotel with a convention center which hosted the Annual Scholastic District Championship. He was at a very high caliber for his age; to the point that almost every kid at his school knew who he was. With all the vigorous training he had been through, Jaune was without a shadow of a doubt expected to take 1st place in his age group. Jaune and his parents were sitting down together in the lobby area, waiting patiently for the tournament to start.

"Dad, what if I don't want to go through with this." Said Jaune. His dad looked at him and was slightly taken back.

"What do you mean? Chess is your favorite hobby. There's no way you can turn back now." Mr. Arc stated.

"If I win, everyone will say "He's Jaune Arc, the top ranked second grader. He always wins. And if I lose, everybody will abandon me."

"You won't lose, plain and simple. Now go get em', tiger." Mr. Arc said to his son. Jaune hurried off to go look at the pairings for round 1.

"He's got this in the bag." Said Mr. Arc. Mrs. Arc did not know how to respond to her husband's quick call. Rather than jump the gun, she chose to remain quiet.

After Jaune looked at the bulletin board, he made his way into the tournament hall and found the table he was assigned to. About a minute after he finished setting up his board, his opponent; David Aurum; arrived and sat down.

"Hi David. My name's Jaune, it's nice to meet you." Jaune said to his opponent.

"Hi…" David replied with a tremble in his voice. The boy was shaking so fast, it clear that he feared the mere thought of facing Jaune in the first round.

Jaune's parents, as well as most of the other adults, were socializing in the break room. About ten minutes after the round has started, David walked out of the door to approach his mom. As soon as the young child whispered in his mom's ear, she jumped so high off her seat and rejoiced.

"You won! You won!" she cheered.

Jaune's parents were both very bewildered at what they just witnessed. After David and his mom left the area, Jaune slowly opened the door. Judging by the look on his face, Mr. Arc knew what happened and rushed over to his son.

"Come with me. Come with me right now!" Mr. Arc said as he jerked Jaune by the arm.

Jaune and his dad were outside in the heavy rain. Neither one of them had an umbrella, much to the dismay of the defeated boy. Mr. Arc was pacing around and avoiding eye contact while Jaune sat on the curb.

"You tell me exactly what happened in there!" Mr. Arc demanded

"I lost in seven moves. I won a pawn, but then I lost my knight." Jaune answered.

"Seven moves… that is amazing. You of all children in this tournament lost your first game in seven moves. So how did it happen? Think about it. Take all the time in the world." Mr. Arc said sarcastically. "Did you fall for a trap?" Jaune slowly nodded his head, which hinted where he went wrong. "Oh okay, a trap. How did it start? Let me guess, you brought your queen out too early even though I warned you TIME AND TIME AGAIN not to do that!"

"I didn't get to play my queen at all." Jaune said, dismissing the harsh accusation. I resigned because there's was no point in playing a losing position. Maybe he's just better than me."

"No Jaune! I'm gonna tell you something right now and you'd better listen! That patzer is not better than you! He is beneath you and he always will be!" Mr. Arc yelled.

"He's not a patzer, dad…" Jaune said in fear. The rain and thunder persisted as the father and son just stood in silence. "Dad, why are you so far away from me?" Mr. Arc looked back at his child and then looked at the ground. His angry expression suddenly became very humbled.

"Come here, son." Jaune hurried over to his dad without any hesistation. Jaune and his father both cried as they embraced each other. "I'm sorry…" Mr. Arc apologized deeply. "It's okay, dad." Jaune replied. A few seconds later, the rain died down and the thunder ceased.

* * *

 _Back in the present_

"From that moment on, I never competed in a single chess tournament for nine years straight. Every now and then I played a casual game with random kids, but even that didn't happen very often. My father promised he would never pressure me like that again." Jaune paused for a moment to think about what he said. "In a way, that helped and hurt me at the same time. Maybe if I did get that extra push, I would already be a more experienced huntsman." Pyrrha then had a flashback of when she originally attempted to persuade Jaune to take part of her training.

"After all this time, I thought I was the only one meeting high expectations." Pyrrha joked. "All kidding aside Jaune, I know it can be very difficult to hander that kind of stress. I could see it in your eyes on the day our team was inducted. Even as our team leader, please remember that you don't have to be perfect."

"I know, Pyrrha. Believe me, I know." Jaune acknowledged. "Up to this day, I still have not told either of my parents about what really happened."

"Come again?" Pyrrha questioned in suspense.

"The truth is…. I knew that my father was letting my success get to his head. My mom saw this, and so did I. Of course, neither one of us had the audacity to confront my dad directly about it. The only thing I could come up with to defuse his ego was to lose."

"Jaune, don't tell me you…"

"Yes Pyrrha, I lost on purpose. Nobody else knows this, and even now I still believe that I did the right thing. It costed me the district title, but for the sake of my sanity and my dad's, it was worth it." Pyrrha did not know what to believe about her boy wonder; if he was either foolish or noble to make such a powerful sacrifice at a young age. Regardless, she still respected Jaune for whom he was.

"My father allowed me to withdraw from the tournament because of the emotional stress. Since that day, I have not competed in another scholastic event. I can only imagine how much more pressure there would've been if it was a VCF rated tournament. Not to get too off track, but I think my playing strength was around 1200 back when I was 8." Jaune concluded.

"You really are a smart guy. I wish more people saw that in you." Pyrrha said as she gave Jaune a playful punch to the shoulder.

"I've been thinking about something else recently, and I know this is going to sound very ludicrous at first. Pyrrha, is it okay if Vinnie comes to watch us compete in the tournament?" Pyrrha almost cringed at the thought of a homeless chain smoker coming into a private academy filled with underage teens, but she knew that Jaune had genuine respect for the man.

"You have a big heart, Jaune. We can ask Professor Ozpin tomorrow if he's okay with that." Pyrrha said to her leader. She then checked the time on her scroll and saw it was past bedtime. "It's getting late. We should go to bed now."

"You're right. All this talk about the past wears me out. Let's go hit the cot." Jaune said as he took one last look at the starry sky. The couple left the rooftop together and officially called it a night.

* * *

In the dorm room down below, Cardin had been eavesdropping on Jaune and Pyrrha's talk the entire time through the open window.

"You really are somethin' else, Jauney." Cardin said before closing the window.

"You're stalkin' that blonde guy again, aren't ya?" Russell teased. Every member of Team CRDL was still awake with lights on in their room.

"Hmm, something like that. Let's not forget he's the one who saved my ass from an Ursa." Cardin assured.

"I agree. Jaune's a lot cooler now ever since he's been talking about this whole chess thing." Said Sky.

"Chess thing? Sky, chess is one of, if not the greatest game of all time!" Dove interrupted. "I used to play in rated tournaments when I was in middle school. Believe me, it was great!"

"Dove, you're a genius! That's what we need to do." Cardin signaled his teammates to get closer into a discussion circle. "Jauney's been all gung-ho for the Beacon Championship coming up in two months from now. On top of that, our reputation hasn't been so hot ever since the redheaded know-it-all made a fool out of us."

"Not to mention, she beat us all at once." Russell muttered.

"But we can change that! How about it boys. Team CRDL for the championship!" Dove immediately showed his interest by nodding his head. Sky thought for a few seconds and gave a thumbs-up. Russell on the other hand, was still looking gruff.

"Somehow I know I'm gonna regret this." The mohawked teen sneered. Regardless, Russell still gave a simple nod.

"Then it's settled. We start our training tomorrow!" Cardin said with determination. "But first, let's get some shut-eye."

* * *

The next day, Team RWBY and Team JNPR were taking a test in Professor Port's class. Jaune was the last one to finish, which was never a huge concern for him anyway. After he turned in his test and left the lecture hall, Jaune was about to head up to his mentor's office but then remembered something important.

"Shoot, I completely forgot. Ozpin's out until Thursday. I can go kill some time in the library." Said Jaune. He knew that his teammates were used to him not going back to the dorm because of private chess lessons. The only that Jaune still kept a secret was whom he received lessons from. Once he made it inside the library, Jaune could not believe what he was witnessing with his own eyes.

"Am I going crazy or is that Team CRDL playing chess?" Jaune asked himself. He figured it would be okay to approach them and find out more about the situation.

"Hey, Jauney boy. Great timing." Cardin said to his friendly rival.

"This is rather surprising, Cardin. I had no idea you guys were into chess." Jaune said.

"It wasn't a big deal to us until we saw the tournament flier." Sky added.

"And when we heard you and your girlfriend talking on the roof last… Oof!" Cardin elbowed Russell in the chest before he could spill the beans.

"Which means we have to train hard for the tournament. Dove is the only one whose got experience on our team, so you could say that he's our coach for the time being." Cardin explained.

"We're not the only students training for it. Take a look around." Dove pointed Jaune to another table where Team CFVY was gathered around a board. In another corner of the library, Mercury and Emerald were sparring in a friendly game.

"That's great! We should hopefully have a good turnout. The more players that sign up, the more incentive our faculty will have in continuing it each year." Jaune stated.

"I like how you think, Jauney. You'll be seeing us in here more often. Take it easy." Cardin said as Jaune left to go see Team CFVY.

"Hey everyone. Are you guys training for the tournament?" Jaune asked eagerly

"It's what we have to do to stay on our game. I hear you're the hot commodity around this school when it comes to chess." Said Fox.

"Yatsu and I are already well experienced. Now we just need to get Fox and Velvet up to speed. Rest assured Jaune, we're giving this all we've got!" Coco proudly declared.

"That's the spirit! I'll let ya'll get back to what you're doing. See you guys later!" Jaune said, leaving the table.

"Jaune's a really nice guy… and also really cute. I hope we don't have to play him." Said Velvet.

"It's all in good spirit, Velv. We all like to win, but most importantly we're doing this to have fun." Said Yatsuhashi.

Before exiting the library, Jaune took one last glance at Emerald and Mercury who were playing down to a rook vs knight endgame.

"Let sleeping dogs lie." Jaune thought to himself. He exited through the door without being detected; or so he thought.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Em. If it wasn't for the sword wielding doofus, I wouldn't be taking this crap seriously at all." Mercury said, moving his rook out of harm's way.

"I'm doing this to make Cinder happy. If she likes it, then I like it." Emerald admitted. She moved her white knight to put Mercury's black king in check. "Draw?"

"Sure. I was getting bored anyway." Mercury said with a sour grapes tone. Mercury and Emerald shook hands and then put the board and pieces away.

* * *

In Vale Central Park, Vinnie was wrapping up a blitz game with one of the local park players. After mating his opponent with a Queen and Bishop combo, Vinnie left the table to go for a smoke break

"Just another Monday. These guys aren't getting any harder. If only Jaune was here to put on a show." Vinnie said to himself. While he was sitting on his bench, Vinnie thought about the Beacon tournament and took out the flier from his jacket pocket.

"If only I could go to this. I know my boy's gonna win it." Vinnie said humbly as he scanned through the details. In a manner that was almost too good to be a coincidence, a tall lanky man in formal business attire approached Vinnie from behind.

"Pardon my interruption, good sir. I couldn't help but hear your… small predicament." The man said with a formal accent.

"Who the hell are you?" Vinnie retorted.

"If you must know; my name is Arthur Watts, a casual chess enthusiast just like yourself." the man answered as straightforward as he could.

"I can already tell by your duds and mannerisms that you ain't from around these parts." Vinnie blatantly stated. "Seriously though, you like some crazy Atlesian scientist who's out to take over the world. And besides, what makes you think I'm in need of serious help?" Watts kept a calm poker face, despite the fact that he was genuinely impressed with Vinnie's street smart senses.

"Ahem, for your information I was also a doctor before my formal resignation. As I was saying, I know a great deal about Beacon Academy as well as the ever so popular game of chess. You see, I've been watching you and the young prodigy, and it's obvious you two share a great passion for the game." The man reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the exact same flier tournament flier. Vinnie began to realize that the stranger was not making any fabrications. "The only problem for you; Mr. Vinnie, is that there is no way for you to compete in the Beacon Chess Championship. One, you would need to be a currently enrolled student and two, all players must have an active VCF membership. Luckily for you, not all hope is lost. Just because you can't compete does not mean you aren't allowed to spectate." Vinnie's expression became less freaked out and more drawn into the man's indirect proposal.

"I'm listening…" Vinnie commented.

"I had a feeling you would say that. Unfortunately, I have some… errands to finish for today. I shall give you further details the next time we meet." The man pulled out a card from his wallet and handed it to Vinnie. "Here's my information in case you ever get a hold of someone's scroll. I look forward to consolidating our new relationship."

"I'll be here same time, same place." Vinnie said. As the gentleman nodded and walked away with both hands behind his back, Vinnie flipped over the card to see the details.

"How did he know my name?" Vinnie thought. "And what does he have to offer?"


	6. Chapter 6: All Systems Go

Chapter 6

Another two months have passed for Beacon Academy. Only one week away from the tournament, other students including Jaune were doing their best to prepare for the big event. Even the teachers such as Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port would remind students to pre-register if they had not done so yet. Jaune and Ozpin were already wrapping up Friday's lesson after looking over a game from the Fischer vs Spassky World Championship.

"Mr. Arc, what was your biggest takeaway from the game we went over?" Ozpin interrogated.

"Never make assumptions about your opponent based on their opening repertoire." Jaune answered.

"Very good. As most players know, Bobby Fischer strongly favored e2-e4 as white and the Sicilian Defense as black. However, he threw a curveball in the opening in a few of the games, using the element of surprise to his advantage. Fischer proved that he had great understanding of queenside play with the white pieces.

"So maybe I should do that too, in case somebody in the tournament that knows my favorite opening moves."

"Well… yes and no. Remember this, Jaune. If you're going to try a different opening, you still need to know the theory to the positions that arise in the middle game. Relying on psychology without a consolidated plan can lead to disastrous results."

"Yikes, I didn't even think about that! I'd better stick to what I know, for now." Jaune said instinctively.

"On the bright side, you've gone up a few points in today's lesson." Ozpin said while imputing a new score for Jaune. "According to my calculations, you now have over 1800 points. I honestly believe your first official rating could be even greater, depending on how you do in a week from now."

"1800!? Wow that's a nice jump! That reminds me, sir. I was wondering if I could invite a friend to come watch the tournament?"

"Yes, of course you can. Anybody can come watch, as long as they aren't some wanted criminal or a shady street bum. Jaune's heart sank when he heard Ozpin make the comment that clearly alluded to Vinnie's lifestyle.

"Right. He's definitely a cool guy. Whenever I see him in Vale, we play a game or two." Jaune said, trying to keep it simple.

"Well that's good, I suppose. We'll resume the lesson on Monday." "Jaune, one last thing." Jaune looked back through the open door. "This is the finalized schedule for the tournament. You should keep this to help plan for each day.

"Yes, sir. I'll look it over tonight." Jaune said with a thumb's up. After the door closed, Ozpin pulled out a blank 18 x 24 in sheet of paper from a folder on his desk. After carefully making sure it was in mint condition, the stoic professor had a new idea come to mind.

"They need to know about this." Ozpin said as he opened his scroll and looked through the student contacts. After writing a group message, he sent it immediately.

* * *

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were in their dorm changing back into their favorite wardrobe. Once they were fully dressed, all three of their scrolls rang.

"It's Jaune!" Pyrrha assumed while rushing to grab her scroll from the desk. Ren, who had already opened his, saw that it was not from whom they believed it to be.

"We stand corrected. It's a message from Ozpin." Said Ren.

'I need the three of you to come to my office. Please keep this a secret, especially from your team leader.' The message read.

"What could the big cheese want with us?" Nora shrugged.

"It has to be important, since it's coming from our headmaster." Said Ren.

"Right, we need to go now." Pyrrha said to her friends.

While Team JNPR minus their leader arrived at the entrance of Beacon, they saw Jaune coming out the double doors.

"Hey everyone, I'm back!" Jaune greeted. "Wait a second, aren't you guys the ones who are usually at the dorm before me?" After questioning his friends, the trio paused and looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to tell Jaune. Pyrrha was the first one to think of an excuse.

"We have to…"

"Takecareofsomeveryimportantbusiness!" Nora said even in her incredibly fast voice. Shen then grabbed Pyrrha and Ren and zipped away even faster than Ruby activating her semblance. Their speed was so impressive they managed to leave behind a pink trail.

"That was, odd." Jaune shrugged. "Oh well, guess I'll have to hang out at the door all alone." The lonely gentleman walked all by his lonesome self to the door without seeing or hearing from anyone else.

* * *

Later in the evening, Jaune was in the dorm room, with the rest of his team still absent. It was extremely rare to be alone on a school night without his teammates inside because they had the same curfew. Jaune remember what Ozpin had given him earlier in the day so he figured it was the best time to review it.

"I'd better look this over. Don't wanna fall asleep just yet." He said to himself. While looking it over, the flier read:

Five Round Swiss, Game of 120 minutes, 5 second delay. Board/clock will be provided.

Friday: 7:00 pm

Saturday: 11:00 am and 5:00 pm

Sunday: 10:00 am and 3:15 pm

VCF membership/renewal fee: $22

"That's make sense to me. Now all I have do is wait until…" Slowly but surely, Jaune gave into fatigue and fell asleep on his bed, the flier now lying next to his pillow.

* * *

An hour later, the other three members of Team JNPR had entered the dorm and were making their way through the corridor. Pyrrha and Ren were in a casual mood, but the same could not be said for Nora.

"For four freakin' months, Jaune's get private lessons from THE Professor Ozpin! How did we not see this!?" Nora stressed.

"I'm sure Jaune had every good reason for keeping it a secret. It might have been a direct order not to share with anyone." The commotion came to a halt when they opened the door and saw Jaune completely out of it.

"He's already asleep. Let's not wake him up." Said Pyrrha.

"Asleep? If he wants to be asleep, I'll put him to sleep! Jaune owes us an apology, right now!" Nora demanded. Before the hammer wielding gal could smack the sleeping knight out of dreamland, Ren grabbed Nora from behind to restrain her.

"Ozpin told us not to let Jaune know about our awareness. Once the ordeal is done, then we you can vent your frustration." Said Ren. Nora finally managed to calm down, after taking enough deep angry breaths.

"Ok, fine. I'll let him off the hook this one time." Nora gasped. "Besides, I'm ready to go to bed."

"I'll go wash up first, if you don't mind." Pyrrha said to her comrades. Nora and Ren nodded and chose to wait in the room.

"I can't wait to see Jaune smile again." Pyrrha thought to herself as she left for the bathroom. "He has no idea what we have for him."

* * *

A week passed by, and it was the grand day for all of Beacon's chess fanatics. A bullhead landed at the airstrip, which mostly carried people that were interested in watching the event. Within the crowd of passengers who were exiting the aircraft, Vinnie and Dr. Watts were in the back blending in with the large group. Vinnie was dressed in a very flashy set of formal clothing he could never imagine purchasing himself. He wore a white long sleeve button up shirt with a black necktie and a sky-blue blazer. Watts had to admit even a homeless person could blend in easily while wearing such classy attire.

"We are here at last, my friend; Beacon Academy. A school this prestigious should be cherished while it still remains. You never know when it could one day crumble." Watts said very ominously. Vinnie looked at his dubious friend and could not if the comment was a legitimate praise for the school or a wicked foreshadow.

"Right…" Vinnie said, getting very creeped out.

"Now that we're here, you might be wondering what it is I expect in return for the generous favor I've done for you." The doctor continued.

"I'm all ears, Doc." Vinnie acknowledged.

"Very good. The task is simple but requires great precision. You will need to put this flash drive into the computer that sets up the pairings between the players. Once you've done that, the program will ask for you to put in the username and password." Watts took out a business card and jotted down on the blank side some needed information. "The scroll I gave you earlier; guard it with your life, and make sure nobody sees it on you. And I mean NOBODY." Vinnie took the flash drive and card and tucked them safe in his side pocket. "Your only opportunity to do this is during the headmaster's introductory speech before the players are paired. If anybody catches you in the act, the entire operation falls apart."

"Don't get me wrong on this, I like the new wardrobe, but won't the people here still know I'm an outsider?" Vinnie commented.

"Should anyone ask, say that you are an associate of Leo Lionheart, and that you are looking to help promote chess at Haven Academy." Watts explained.

"But what about the people that already know me? They usually see me on a park bench in the same clothing." Vinnie further asked.

"Just say you saved enough money from hustling other players. That should be a rather fitting story for your type." Watts answered. "Remember Vincent, you're here because you want to watch a bunch of children play your favorite board game; I'm here to settle some personal business with an old colleague of mine. As long as we play our moves right, we both get what we're after. Nevertheless, I have a very low opinion of failure, and I expect you to put in your best effort." Watts then closed his gray overcoat, placed a fedora on his head and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes to keep a low profile while proceeding in the direction of the exchange student dorm. "Cheerio." Vinnie stood in his same position and watched his shady accomplice disappear.

"That man is something else." Vinnie said, shaking his head in frustration. Out of the corner of his eye, Vinnie saw Jaune and Ozpin approaching from a different direction.

"Vinnie, you made it! Nice duds by the way." Jaune complimented. "Professor, I would like for you to meet my chess friend, Vinnie."

"The name's Vincent Trailburn, but you can just me Vinnie. Jaune's a good kid, and he's the real deal in chess. He's got the heart of a true champion!" Vinnie said as he shook hands with Ozpin.

"I'm very glad to see that you two are very close. Come now, we should head to the registration lobby." Ozpin said to the cheery friend. After getting acquainted, Ozpin couldn't help but see a glimpse of the initials A.W. on the right upper collar of Vinnie's blazer. "Those initials. They have a very familiar ring, but I can't remember where I've seen or heard them." Ozpin thought to himself.

"Sir, is something troubling you?" Jaune asked with concern.

"Nothing, Mr. Arc. I'm only imagining how things will turn out this weekend." Ozpin said to his pupil. The three chess enthusiasts made it inside the school so they could make preparations.

Meanwhile, Team RWBY had already left their dorm with their minds focused on the tournament. While passing a bullhead, they happened to see General Ironwood with a familiar orange-haired girl wearing a pink bow.

"Look, it's Penny! Let's go say hi!" Ruby insisted.

"Salutations. It is a pleasure to meet you again, Ruby Rose." Penny said, hearing the commotion.

"Penny! I'm so glad you're here! Are you here to watch the tournament?" Ruby asked.

"Even better. I'm here to compete along with you and the other Beacon students." Penny answered.

"Penny, we have to hurry!" Ironwood ordered. "Ozpin is waiting for us."

"I'm sorry to make this short, but I must see the headmaster. Have a nice day." Penny said with her classic wave.

"She sure is different." Said Yang. "Just like you, Rubes."

"Didn't we see her in Vale last semester?" Weiss vaguely remembered.

"We did. She helped Sun and I defeat Torchwick and stop him from hauling away a massive amount of dust." Blake recalled.

"Let's go register. Maybe we'll get to play her in today's round." Said Ruby.

* * *

Within the halls of Beacon, Ozpin and his staff had worked hard to set up the dining hall tables with chess boards and clocks. One of the smaller lecture classrooms had been converted into a registration room, which was where most people were gathering at the time. After waiting for several other students to finish signing up, Jaune finally made it to the desk to speak to Professor Port.

"Why hello, young lad. Have you already preregistered?" Port asked.

"No sir, I haven't. I also need to purchase a VCF membership." Jaune answered

"Very well. I just need your scroll and a form of payment to cover the fees." Jaune handed Port his debit card and scroll and waited patiently for the process.

"Congratulations, Mr. Arc. You are now an official member of the Vale Chess Association! Here is your ID card which is proof of membership. Once Jaune received his VCF card, he looked at it with a since of pride and smiled cheerfully.

"This is great. My first day of becoming a true chess member!" Jaune said in glee

"Now remember. All participants must arrive at the ampitheatre no later than 7:00 pm this evening. Students are also required to remain in uniform, but only for tonight. See you then, Mr. Arc." Port said. Jaune exited through the door and looked around to see if any of his friends were close.

"There you are, champ!" Vinnie said from behind. "It's 4:00 right now, we'd better go get something to eat."

"Good idea, Vin. Once we're done eating, we can play a game or two to help me get warmed up." Jaune suggested.

"Good thinkin'." Vinnie said.

* * *

Around 6:30 pm, Jaune and Vinnie were already walking outside on their way to the amphitheater. Vinnie could sense that he had to do what he needed to get done before it was too late.

"Oh shoot, I gotta find the restroom quick. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done." Vinnie said while dashing off.

"Understood." Jaune said. Vinnie sprinted back towards the entrance to the dining hall while Jaune continued walking towards his destination. About five minutes before 7, he made it inside and saw the rest of his team seated together.

"Jaune, where have you been? We haven't seen you since classes ended today." Said Pyrrha.

"I'm sorry, guys. I got way too caught up with Vinnie when we doing our practice games. Plus, we had to get a bite to eat." Jaune explained.

"Speaking of which, where's Vinnie? I thought he was with you." Ren asked.

"He said he had to use the men's room, but he hasn't come back." Said Jaune.

"Shh, it's about to start." Pyrrha shushed.

"Good evening, ladies and gentleman." Goodwitch greeted. "It is a great honor to have you here tonight for the first round of the Beacon Academy Chess Championship. In this amphitheater, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the big screen that monitors all of the games. The contestants, however, will be playing in the dining hall which has been temporarily renovated into a chess tournament hall. All of the needed equipment is provided, which is something rarely seen in most VCF tournaments. We do have some ground rules that must be covered first before we can proceed. Players may not use their scrolls, textbooks, or any other electronic devices for notetaking until their game is complete. Scrolls must be turned off at all times, and if they go off their will be consequences. For the first offense, your time will be reduced by ten minutes. The second offense will result in a game loss, and the third time will result in disqualification. If a player needs to make an emergency call, they will need to report to me or Professor Ozpin first. At any given moment, Professor Port should have the pairings done, so now we must wait patiently for it to finish."

* * *

In the main building, Vinnie was skulking through halls making sure he was not being detected or followed. Around the corner, he saw an open door which was the registration room. Vinnie could hear Professor Port typing on the computer, which meant he had to time his entrance just right.

"Oh, darn it, it would seem that nature calls. Be back if a jiff." Port said to himself. The burly mustached huntsman left his desk unattended and went the opposite way from where Vinnie was hiding.

"Ok Vinnie, you got this. Just go in the room, plug the stick in the computer and follow the instructions." Vinnie said to himself. Without breaking the silence, the street hustler saw the laptop that Port had been on, and made sure the pairings had not been finalized. After screening the information, Vinnie inserted the flash drive, which prompted a black window to appear and ask for a username and password. Vinnie entered the following credentials that Watts had written down for him:

Username: QueensGambit

Password: SalemWTCH

After completing the steps, a batch file ran and showed a black queen on the screen for about ten seconds. The image closed and nothing appeared to have happened, which made Vinnie wonder if he was successful or not.

"Alright, I did what I was told. Now let's get outta here." Said Vinnie. After removing the USB, he slipped out of the area before he could be seen by Professor Port.

"Alrighty then, let's get these kids paired." Port said. He waited patiently for the pairs to calculate and form on a spreadsheet, which he knew had to be sent over to Ozpin and Goodwitch.

"The pairings for Round 1 have been settled, so please make note of your board number and the color you are playing as. You may write it down, take a picture, or anything else to help you remember the necessary information." After Ozpin finished his explanation, the giant holographic screen revealed the Round 1 pairings:

1

White: Fox Alister (unr)

Black: Cinder Fall (1900)

2

White: Jaune Arc (unr)

Black: Yatsuhashi Daichi (1750)

3

White: Sky Lark (unr)

Black: Pyrrha Nikos (1700)

4

White: Ruby Rose (unr)

Black: Mercury Black (1650)

5

White: Velvet Scarlatina (unr)

Black: Dove Bronzewing (1600)

6

White: Weiss Schnee (1550)

Black: Russell Thrush (unr)

7

White: Coco Adel (1500)

Black: Penny Polendina (unr)

8

White: Emerald Sustrai (1450)

Black: Nora Valkyrie (unr)

9

White: Blake Belladonna (1350)

Black: Cardin Winchester (unr)

10

White: Lie Ren (1250)

Black: Yang Xiao Long (unr)

"You've gotta be kidding me! A 1750 rated opponent in round 1!?" Jaune panicked.

"Relax Jaune, it's only a number." Pyrrha said, trying to calm her hero.

"Now that we've gotten that taken care of, all players must follow Professor Ozpin and Dr. Oobleck to the tournament hall. Spectators, please remain seated unless you need to speak to a staff member." Goodwitch instructed. Jaune and the other players did as they were told and followed.

"Well, this is it guys. No matter what happens, just remember that we're in this together." Jaune said to his team. They followed the line of students and eventually arrived in the well-organized tournament hall. Jaune still had Vinnie on his mind, and became worried about his friend's disappearance. Once everybody found their assigned board, Ozpin walked over to the podium that oversaw the entire area.

"Quiet down, please." Ozpin instructed. "We don't want to take up any more time than needed." After the room became silent, Ozpin resumed his pitch. "Based on what I'm seeing, it would appear that everybody has found their correct table. We are already a little bit behind schedule so I want to make sure we get started soon. Please remember to write your results on the bulletin board near the exit. With that in mind, let me make it clear that both players, regardless of how they did in the game, are responsible for reporting the outcome. Failure to do so can lead to both of you being penalized. One last thing before we get started. Notation sheets are already provided at the boards, so please use those to keep track of your moves. MonRoi's and Plycounters are not to be used, even though they are VCF approved. My only reason for this is because not everybody has access to them, and several players complain about them being used for notetaking. Got it? Good. With that said, please shake hands and start your clocks."

"Good luck to you." Jaune and Yatsuhashi said to each other as they shook hands. The tall oriental started the clock, which initiated Jaune's turn. It was white to move.


	7. Chapter 7: Smith-Morra All the Way

Chapter 7

Jaune knew what he had to do, and had to stick to his guns. He moved his king pawn forward two squares from e2 to e4, his favorite opening move as white. Yatsuhashi waited about two seconds and responded by playing pawn from c7 to c5.

"I should've known he'd play the Sicilian Defense. Ozpin said it's the most popular competitive opening against e4. I have only one way to refute it." Jaune thought to himself.

2\. d4, cxd4

3\. c3

"Hmm, that's the Smith-Morra Gambit. If I accept the extra pawn, all I have to do is play solid and continue with my opening plan, even if it does cost me a tempo." Yatsuhashi thought.

3\. … dxc3

4\. Nxc3, Nc6

5\. Nf3, g6

After Yatsuhashi finished his move, he got up from the table to go walk around for a bit. Jaune studied the position and thought about a plan.

"He's obviously planning to fianchetto his bishop on g7, controlling the opening diagonal. I need to control the e-file as much as possible." Jaune pondered. "Then I can look for attack chances." Yatsuhashi came back to the table and was surprised that Jaune had not moved yet. Then the game continued.

6\. Bc4, d6

7\. 0-0, Bg7

8\. Rfe1, Nf6

After Yatsuhashi finished his move, Jaune felt the need to get a cup of water to stay refreshed. The blonde teen got up from the table and headed over to where the keg of water was standing. After filling his cup and taking a good swig, Jaune went back to the board to resume where he left off.

9\. Bf4, 0-0

10\. Qe2, Bg4

"Dang, that's a nice move he played. That pin is going to be a thorn in my side if I don't address it soon." Jaune ascertained. "On top of that, I know the threat of knight to d4 is at black's disposal. I can't allow this!"

11\. Rad1

"There, that should protect the d4 square for now." Jaune assured himself. "All of my pieces are developed, so now we just have to wait and see how black responds."

"That rook on d1 is well placed. Apparently, the kid is smarter than I thought. Let's shake things up a little bit." Yatsuhashi thought.

11\. …Qa5

Jaune looked at the clock and saw that both clocks were already more than twenty minutes depleted. Both players were only eleven moves into the game, yet so much time had already been used.

12\. h3, Bxf3

13\. Qxf3, Rac8

"Not falling for this old trick." Jaune noted.

14\. Bb3, Qb4

15\. Qe3, Rfd8

"All of the pieces are active now. I'll go see how the other games are going; maybe I'll have a more refreshed perspective of the board if I do that." Jaune decided. He got up from the table once again; not to get water but this time to see how the other games were going. He walked over to the board where Pyrrha was playing against Sky. The redhead had the black pieces, and she was completely dominating the game with ease. Jaune moved onto another board since he knew that his best friend has her game in the bag.

After looking around, he saw the game between Ruby and Mercury still in progress. Jaune noticed that Ruby was down two pawns and it was obvious that the cocky grey-haired enforcer had seized the initiative. At that point, Jaune decided to go back to his own game. Once he got settled in, Jaune had to think about the position.

"There's no way I can win this strategically while I'm down a pawn. I need to do something that will give me some tactical shots. Maybe then, I'll be able to win back more material than what I lost in the beginning." Jaune surmised. "Hmm, I think I have an idea."

16\. Nd5

Yatsuhashi glanced at the bold knight move his unrated opponent played. He studied it for about a minute, and thought right away about the safety of his own queen under attack.

16\. …Qc5

17\. Qd2, Rde8

"Why did he move his rook again? That's just a wasted move." Jaune surmised. "I have to take advantage of this while I can. He may have left something behind." After looking at the board for about five minutes, Jaune found a move that would put black in a real bind.

18\. Ba4, e5"

"Instead of retreating, I'm going to fight back!" Jaune asserted.

19\. Rc1, Qd4

"This is perfect! Now we can trade queens, which will win back a pawn." Jaune calculated.

20\. Qxd4, exd4

21\. Bxd6, Rxe4

After Yatsuhashi had captured the pawn on e4 with his rook, the big guy suddenly froze in fear and knew he had goofed big time. He tried his best not to drop the poker face, but Jaune already saw the mean tactic.

22\. Nxf6+, Bxf6

23\. Rxe4

"I can't believe I frickin' did that. I just blundered a whole rook. Oh well, let's see how this goes." Yatsuhashi thought to himself.

23\. …d3

24\. Bxc6, d2

"Ok, now he's just getting desperate." Jaune observed. "I won't allow it."

25\. Rd1, Bg5

26\. Re8+, Rxe8

27\. Bxe8

Yatsuhashi looked at the board solemnly and knew deep down inside that his lone bishop was not enough to battle against a rook and a bishop pair. The tan skinned teen tipped his king over and conceited the match. The two boys shook hands, turned off the clock, and set the pieces back to the starting position.

"We should go write the results." Jaune whispered. Yatsuhashi nodded and they both walked over to the bulletin board. When they got to the results sheet, Jaune did not know what to do next.

"What are we supposed to write?" Jaune asked

"You have to write a 1 next to your name to show that you won. On the other hand, I have to write a 0 to prove that I lost." Yatsuhashi explained. Jaune followed the instructions and they both finished reviewing the results. Jaune then looked down the list of the pairings and saw that most of the other games were finished.

"I gotta hand it to you, Jaune. You play the Smith-Morra Gambit very well, and really came up with some good tactics." Yatsuhashi complemented.

"Thanks, man. You played very well yourself. I know you wouldn't have made that blunder had you used more time on that move. I pretty much got lucky in the end." Jaune humbly admitted.

"You make a good point, but remember Jaune, it is what it is. You gotta take that win and move up to the top! You take care now, and get some good rest!" Yatsuhashi left the area to head back to the dorm. Jaune looked up at the sky for a while, celebrating his win in the back of his mind.

"I did it. I won my first game." Jaune said to himself. "Gee, I wonder what time it is." He turned his scroll back on and saw that the time was 10:00, the time that he normally goes to bed. "I'll go see which games are still left." Jaune quietly re-entered the tournament hall and saw only three games that were still going on; Blake vs Cardin, Coco vs Penny, and Velvet vs Dove. He was too tired to even bother to see who was winning or losing in the games, so Jaune figured it was best to leave and call it a night. Ozpin and Dr. Oobleck were the only other people monitoring the games since the rest of the players had finished and left the hall. As soon as the happy chess player exited the building, he ran into the person he was looking for hours ago.

"Vinnie, there you are! Where the heck did you to this whole time!?" Jaune frantically asked.

"Dude, chill. I watched your game in the amphitheater on the big screen. You played that gambit opening to the tee! Nice one!"

"Oh wow, I forgot all about that. But that still doesn't answer where you went before I started my match." Jaune pressed.

"Look, about that Jaune. I don't know the layout of this school very well, so finding the restrooms was very difficult for me." Vinnie lied. "But I'm fine now."

"Speaking of which, how did all your buddies do? I was too caught up in your game that I didn't even think to check on how the others were doing." Vinnie said

"Last time I checked, Pyrrha crushed Sky, Ren won a pretty solid game against Yang, but Nora lost badly to Emerald." Jaune summarized. "If you're wondering how the other girls did, Ruby had a bad game against Mercury, but Weiss beat the breaks off of Russell. Blake is still going toe-to-toe with Cardin."

"Hmm, looks like ya'll ready had quite a round." Vinnie commented. "Hey Jaune, before you go anywhere, I need a place to stay for tonight if that's cool with you."

"Of course, Vinnie; you're my friend. I think there's enough room in my dorm room to fit you in. We have a spare sleeping bag that you can use." Jaune insisted. "I don't think the others will mind." Jaune lead Vinnie back to his dorm, which was not too far of a walk from the academy. When they made it inside the room, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were already asleep. Jaune signaled to Vinnie not to wake them up, which the latter acknowledged. The two friends quietly got themselves ready for bed, and then said goodnight to each other. Jaune fell asleep first while Vinnie still had some thoughts on his mind about the entire day.

"He'll do fine. I know he can win this." Vinnie whispered to himself. Suddenly, his scroll began to flash, and it was very obvious whom the message was from. "Oh great, what does that son of a bitch want." Sure enough, it was a message from Dr. Watts that was straight to the point.

'Excellent work. Keep a low profile and do not speak to anyone you don't know.'

"You're welcome." Vinnie sneered as he placed his scroll back on Jaune's desk. The street hustler positioned himself in the sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

* * *

In the exchange student dorm, Cinder and her two young followers were eagerly discussing their easy victories. Mercury was lying casually on his bed while the girls were sitting on the floor with a chess set.

"Good work you two. I saw that both of you had no trouble taking care of your opposition." Cinder said to her lackeys.

"I toyed with little red in the opening, and after that I had her hook, line, and sinker." Mercury bragged.

"Psh, the pink-haired ditz couldn't win her way out of a paper bag. That was the sorriest opponent I've ever faced in my life." Emerald scoffed.

"Once again, I applaud both of your wins, , but don't let that get to your head just yet. We still have four rounds left, and your opponents are going to be much stronger than today." Cinder warned. Before she could say anything else, the dangerous woman paused and stood up, glancing from left to right to see if they were being watched.

"Did we say something wrong?" Emerald questioned. The mistress looked back at the window and slowly shook her head.

"It's nothing… just the wind. The two of you need to rest up for tomorrow. We've only just begun." Said Cinder. Mercury and Emerald did as they were told and got themselves settled into their beds. Cinder was still in her own train of thought with something still lingering in the back of her mind. "Why do I sense a familiar presence? Could it actually be him?"

* * *

For reference:

I chose to use algebraic notation for the chess moves to help keep the word count low. I have provided a legend to help understand the moves being played in the games.

K – king

Q – queen

R – rook

B – bishop

N – knight

0-0 – castle kingside

0-0-0 – castle queenside

\+ - check

# - checkmate

= - pawn promotion

ep – en passant

pawn moves are represented by the file letter (column) and the rank number (row).


	8. Chapter 8: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Chapter 8

After a good night sleep, all of the competitors were in the dining hall eating a hearty breakfast. Team RWBY and Team JNPR sat together like they usually do, talking about their games from yesterday evening.

"It sure was nice for Ozpin and his crew to open a free breakfast for the players." Jaune said.

"And we don't have to wear our uniforms again. I was getting really hot and sweaty in them." Yang added.

"You played a great game last night. I think you'll do fine in your other matches." Ren said to Yang

"Thanks, Ren. You got some pretty slick moves yourself." said the gregarious blonde girl. "Which reminds me. How did you do in your game, Blakey?"

"I lost…" Blake answered.

"To Cardin!? How did he manage to win!?" Nora interrupted.

"I know you might think this is crazy, but I had a strange feeling that Cardin knew every move I was going to play before it even happened." Blake said.

"That's the point of chess. You have to anticipate what your opponent is going to do." Weiss critiqued.

"You're right, I know that's true but this was a different kind of anticipation." Blake added. "I can't help but think he knew how the position would unfold before we even got to the table. We fought a long hard battle, but Cardin was never taken by surprise during the whole game."

"The big meathead probably took a smart pill yesterday." Pyrrha said sarcastically.

"Come one Pyrrha, give the guy a break already. I know Cardin and his pals have been practicing really hard for this. I actually bumped into them in the library a few times during their study sessions. Maybe he just knew Blake's opening very well and had an elaborate middle game plan." Jaune said to his partner.

"The second match starts at 11 am, correct?" Ruby asked the group. Everybody nodded in response.

"That gives us two hours to get ready." Said Ren. "We also don't have to meet in the amphitheater like we did yesterday. This time, we come straight back here."

"I just hope they have the boards set up on time." Said Jaune. "We were all a little behind on schedule last night. Anyway, I'm gonna go chill in the dorm and get myself mentally prepared. I'll see you guys at 11." Jaune got up from the table with his plate and left as soon as he could.

"He's probably thinking about Vinnie." Said Pyrrha. "Jaune needs to concentrate on his game and not get too distracted." Ren and Nora nodded while the other girls did not seem to understand the situation entire. As they continued to eat, Coco and Velvet came from behind Weiss and Blake to ask about their games.

"I saw your game, Weiss. Russell got too greedy for your bishop and overlooked the mate threat. Nicely done." Coco complimented."

"Thank you, Coco. If you don't mind me asking, how did you game turn out?" Weiss asked. The beret wearing combat girl frowned a little bit but then looked back up.

"Well, to put it simple, I lost badly. That Penny girl really knows how to kick some ass in chess." Said Coco. "Here's the weird part about it. The way Penny plays chess is so… robotic. All of her moves were so precise and theoretically sound. Even with the white pieces, I still could not figure out how to keep the initiative."

"How about you, Velvet? Did you win?" asked Ruby

"I actually drew against Dove. We were the last ones to finish, so you can imagine how sleep deprived I am." Velvet said in her .

"We gotta go now. Gotta get prepped for today." Coco snapped on her sunglasses as she and the rabbit faunus left the dining hall.

"We should go too. It's already a few minutes past 9." Pyrrha suggested. The gang of friends finished their meals and left the hall.

* * *

It was 10:50 am. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were all heading back to the tournament hall together, eager to see whom they would be playing in round 2. When they opened the door to get inside, they all noticed two separate bulletin boards. The first one had the round 2 pairings:

1

White: Cinder Fall (1900) 1.0

Black: Lie Ren (1250) 1.0

2

White: Cardin Winchester (unr) 1.0

Black: Pyrrha Nikos (1700) 1.0

3

White: Mercury Black (1650) 1.0

Black: Jaune Arc (unr) 1.0

4

White: Penny Polendina (unr) 1.0

Black: Weiss Schnee (1550) 1.0

5

White: Dove Bronzewing (1600) 0.5

Black: Emerald Sustrai (1450) 1.0

6

White: Sky Lark (unr) 0

Black: Velvet Scarlatina (unr) 0.5

7

White: Yatsuhashi Daichi (1750) 0

Black: Ruby Rose (unr) 0

8

White: Russell Thrush (unr) 0

Black: Coco Adel (1500) 0

9

White: Nora Valkyrie (unr) 0

Black: Blake Belladonna (1350) 0

10

White: Yang Xiao Long (unr) 0

Black: Fox Alister (unr) 0

The second board had a disclaimer, which also stood out like a sore thumb. It read:

 **ATTENTION**

 _Players are prohibited from using scrolls, laptops, and any other electronic device in the tournament hall. If you need to make an emergency call, please let a staff member know immediately. Accessing chess engines and other third-party software is against VCF tournament policy and Beacon's Academic Integrity standards. Violation of these rules will result in disqualification from the tournament, and immediate termination from VCF and Beacon Academy events._

"Good to know. At least they're cracking down on cheaters." Said Jaune. "I'm gonna go find my table." After Jaune headed down the hall, Pyrrha stared solemnly at the name of whom she was paired against. Shen then walked away without saying a word. Blake and Nora looked at each other nervously, but then smiled to show no hard feelings. Ren and Weiss were also slightly nervous about their opponents; Ren facing Cinder and Weiss being paired against the one whom Coco warned them about. Yang and Ruby were not too overly concerned about the tournament since they were the most carefree of the group. After reading both bulletin boards carefully, they all proceeded to their assigned boards.

As soon as Jaune was settled in at his table, Professor Ozpin appeared in front of the white knight.

"You forgot something last night." Said the headmaster, handing Jaune a piece of paper.

"That's my notation sheet! Aw dang I feel so dumb leaving that behind. Thanks for finding it." Jaune said, feeling careless.

"I looked it over, and I must say you did very well against Mr. Daichi. Don't let the victory get to your head now; you're still a long way from the finish line." Said Ozpin. "And remember, Jaune; think on your hands, take your time, and don't move until you see it." The wise mentor winked and headed back to the front end of the hall. Ruby then walked up to Jaune to share a few comments.

"You're paired against Mercury, aren't you?" the young girl said.

"I am. I saw that you're facing Yatsuhashi. We played last night, and I know he would've had me if it weren't for the careless blunder he made in the end. He's a strong adversary, so you have to be very alert." Jaune cautioned.

"I know I probably shouldn't be sharing this, but Mercury likes to start off with his knights." Ruby advised.

"I'll take your word for it. Good luck in your game, Ruby." Said Jaune.

"Likewise." The hooded huntress headed back over to her board, while passing by the incoming Mercury.

"I'm impressed you beat a 1750 in your first game. I look forward to an interesting battle." Mercury said in his typical condescending tone. Jaune simply nodded because he knew his opponent was trying to use 2nd grade psychology to get a mental edge. Shortly after, Ozpin and Goodwitch approached the podium to make an announcement.

"Settle down, children." The entire hall became dead silent. "I want to say that I am very happy with yesterday's round. Everybody was on their best behavior, and there were no problems at all that evening. We do ask that you all continue to remain silent while games are in session. If there is a situation in which you need to speak, please whisper so that the other players aren't distracted. Goodwitch leaned over and whispered something in Ozpin's ear. "Oh yes, another thing that has to be addressed before we continue. The touch-move rule is extremely important to remember in tournament play. If you touch a piece, you have to commit to that piece only. Once you move that piece to a square and release your hand, the move is official and cannot be taken back. Violation of this rule follows the same consequences as having a scroll go off during a game. I believe that cover everything. Shake hands and start your clocks."

After shaking hands, Mercury took no more than two seconds to make the first move.

1\. Nf3

"Ruby was right. He does favor knight openings. Time to get my game on." Jaune thought

1\. …d5

2\. e3, Nf6

3\. b3, Nc6

4\. Bb2, Bg4

5\. Be2, e6

"He's obviously never seen this opening before." Mercury thought to himself. "At this rate, he'll be a fish in the water."

6\. Ne5, Bxe2

7\. Qxe2, Qd6

8\. f4, Nd7

"I know he thinks I'm dumb. It ain't happenin, Merc. Not on my watch." Jaune thought.

9\. Qh5, g6

10\. Qf3, Bg7

11\. 0-0

"I can win a pawn in the exchange. Here I go!" Jaune anxiously looked at the knight on e5, eager to take away some material.

11\. …Nxe5

12\. fxe5, Bex5

Mercury moved is queen faster than lightning after Jaune had already hit the clock.

13\. Qxf7+

Jaune froze in shock when he realized his king was now in check.

"Son of a bitch! I should've castled before taking the pawn so soon." Jaune scolded. "Oh well, at least I haven't been mated yet."

13\. …Kd8

14\. Bxe5, Nxe5

15\. Qf6+

"Hmph, the idiot looks like he's gonna cry. I'll go see how Cinder and Em are doing in their games." Mercury thought to himself. The steel booted teen got up from the table, leaving his stressed-out opponent. Jaune did his best not to openly panic, but his face completely gave it all away."

"I need a drink of water." Jaune whispered to himself without being heard. He left the table to go to the water dispenser and filled a cup. Jaune suddenly became curious to see how Pyrrha was going in her game against Cardin. He walked over to board 2 and saw that Pyrrha was up the exchange; a knight for a pawn."

"I can't wait to see Cardin's face after their done. I'll talk to Pyrrha about it after we're done with this round." Jaune noted. The noble chess player returned to his table and saw Mercury sitting back down as well. "Okay, now to get out of this predicament. I can only think of one way."

15\. …Kd7

16\. Qg7+, Kc6

"Damn, he got out of my attack. It doesn't matter, anyway. His king is still exposed, so all I need to do is bring in the rest of my cavalry." Mercury calculated.

17\. Nc3, Rhg8

18\. Qh6, Raf8

19\. Qh4, Rxf1+

20\. Rxf1, a6

"This should give my king a nice escape route. Heh, I bet even Mercury is impressed with that." Jaune thought eagerly.

"It'll take more than a little pawn maneuver to impress me." Mercury sneered. "In case he forgot, I'm still the aggressor."

21\. Qa4+, Kb6

22\. Qf4, c5

23\. Qg3, d4

24\. Na4+, Ka7

Jaune looked at the clock and realized that two hours had already passed. Mercury had an hour and ten minutes on his clock while Jaune had fifty minutes left. At this point in the game, Jaune had a much better sense of safety for his king, but he still needed to figure out how to retaliate against Mercury's onslaught of pieces.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Cardin had a very complicated position in their game. Cardin was thinking very hard on his move as he was still down a significant amount of material against the spartan warrior.

"This can't be happening. First, she makes me look like a dumbass in Dr. Oobleck's class, then she made cannon fodder out of my entire team in front of Goodwitch, and now this!?" Cardin was having flashbacks of the battle between Team CRDL and Pyrrha where she took all four of them down with relative ease. It was one of the most painful losses Cardin had suffered, and even after time had passed, he had never truly let go of that grudge.

"I can't let this bitch get the best of me again." Cardin thought. "There has to be a way to win." All of the sudden, a light bulb lit up in Cardin's mind. "Hmm, this might work." Cardin got up from the table and left with his clock ticking. Pyrrha was only a little bit surprised to see her opponent get up at an unexpected time, but she shrugged it off anyway. As quietly as he could, Cardin slipped through the doors and exited the building.

* * *

Back in Jaune's game, Mercury finally decided to make a move.

25\. Qf2, Ng4

26\. Qf4, Qxf4

27\. exf4, b6

28\. Nb2, b5

29\. Nd3, Kb6

"Good, the attack is fizzled out completely. Now I need to figure out how to put this endgame in my favor." Jaune thought. "My queenside pawn storm should get his attention at this rate."

30\. h3, Nf6

31\. Nf2, Ka5

32\. Re1, Re8

33\. a3, b4

34\. a4, Kb6

"That should keep his pawns locked up. Even without my queen, I should still be able to outplay him strategically." Mercury assured himself.

35\. g3, Kc6

36\. d3, Nd5

37\. Nd1, Kd6

38\. Kh2

* * *

At board 2, Pyrrha was still waiting patiently for about thirty minutes for Cardin to come back and make a move. The redhead had already gotten up twice to get water during his opponent's absence, so she figured it was best to stay seated. All of the sudden, Pyrrha saw Cardin enter through the double doors, walking at a fast pace. The black armored knight sat back down and instantly took a black pawn with his white bishop. Pyrrha was alarmed by the bizarre move because the sacrifice would deplete Cardin of even more material. Pyrrha went ahead and took back with a pawn, and then Cardin captured that pawn with his Queen; putting the black king in check. Now it was Pyrrha who had to think carefully.

* * *

Back at board 3, Jaune was still thinking of how to stir things up in his game. The position looked stagnant, but he knew there had to be a way to turn the tide.

"If I don't do something now, this game will be a dead draw. I'm going for a pawn break!" Jaune quickly insisted.

38\. …e5

39\. fxe5, Rxe5

40\. Rxe5, Kxe5

After Jaune took back with the king, Mercury looked closer at the position and his facial expression became very different than before.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I think… black is better here! Earlier in the game I had the dumbass on the run. Now I'm the one who's in a tough bind!" Mercury panicked mentally. "My king and knight are stuck on the edge while his king is active in the center! Screw it, let's just see what happens."

41\. Kg2, Ne3+

42\. Nxe3, dxe3

43\. Kf3, Kd4

Mercury was even more scared now that the knights were gone. The grey-haired boy also realized that Jaune could create a passed pawn depending on the next sequence of moves. Mercury had one last ace up his sleeve to avoid a crushing defeat.

"Jaune." He whispered. "I'm offering a draw." Jaune looked Mercury dead in the eye and gave him a cold angry stare, which obviously meant that he was declining the draw offer.

"Play on." Jaune whispered back

44\. Ke2, Kc3

45\. Kxe3, Kxc2

46\. d4, cxd4+

47\. Kxd4, Kxb3

Mercury stared at the board in utter defeat. He knew his position was falling apart before his eyes, and there was no way around it. It pained Mercury even more that this loss was to someone he did not respect. With no options left, the hitman knocked his king over and walked away quickly from the table without shaking Jaune's hand or even saying "good game."

"Psh, sore loser." Jaune whispered to himself. The hero stood up and set the board back up neatly by himself. Aftewards, he picked up his notation sheet and proceeded over to the pairing board. Mercury was nowhere around to be seen, so Jaune had to fill in the results himself. After writing the score down, he looked at the board 2 pairing and saw something that almost made him slip out a cussword. There was a 1 next to Cardin's name and a 0 next to Pyrrha, which was clearly a major upset in Jaune's opinion. He had to know what happened in the game, and the only way to find out was to talk to the beautiful redhead. Jaune left the tournament hall and made his way to the dorm as fast as he could.

"There's only one place she could be right now." Jaune said to himself.

* * *

The heroic boy eventually ascended all the way to the rooftop of the dorm, where Pyrrha was staring out at the horizon.

"I take it you saw the result of my match." Pyrrha said without looking back at Jaune, only because she knew of just one person who would also be on the roof.

"Yes Pyrrha, I did… I'm sorry about what happened." Jaune said, trying to console the spartan.

"Believe me Jaune, there's nothing to be sorry for. Especially when you can't help but think you've been robbed of a fair game!" Pyrrha quickly turned around to make eye contact, which startled Jaune very easily. He did not know how to properly respond to the bold accusation.

"Wait, now hold on just a minute. There's no way Cardin could've cheated. There aren't any devices in the tournament hall and if he did have one, the teachers would've caught him easily."

"Great observatin, Captain Obvious!" Pyrrha snapped. Jaune still could not believe that Pyrrha, one of the most level-headed students at Beacon, was now on the brink of going berserk over a game of chess. "But did you know that when Cardin knew he was losing badly, he left the building for THIRTY MINUTES, and then came back and played flawlessly like a grandmaster, allowing him to go for a checkmate!"

"I dunno, maybe he went for a bathroom break." Jaune assumed

"Oh, a bathroom break; how could I be so stupid." Pyrrha said in a hostile and sarcastic tone. "You're telling me that all Cardin had to do was take a long crap to win with flying colors!" Pyrrha was breathing at a faster pace than usual, but then she regained her composure. "I'm serious, Jaune. I know you think Cardin is all reformed just because he doesn't bully you anymore; but that doesn't mean he's had a full change of heart!"

"Maybe you are right after all, Pyrrha. Tell you what, I'll keep a close eye on Cardin during our next round tonight, and I'll let you and Ozpin know if I detect anything suspicious."

"Thank you, Jaune. Regardless of what happens in the upcoming round, I still suspect foul play against both Blake and myself. If I catch Cardin in the act, I swear I'm gonna break his legs."


	9. Chapter 9: Do the Bright Thing

.

Chapter 9

 _Just a little quick memo: I am modifying the previous chapters so that the paragraphs are easier to read._

It was 3:00 in the afternoon. In the school's darkest corner of the library, the analytical Dr. Watts had brought Vinnie inside to discuss their next order of business.

"Why exactly did you bring me here?" Vinnie asked cautiously.

"We need to stay out of sight as much as possible. I promise not to keep you long from watching the tournament."" Said Watts. "I must say, I'm rather impressed with your slick maneuver yesterday evening. Are you sure you haven't done this kind of work before?"

"I was born and raised in Vacuo, and I've lived on the streets for over half my life. I know a thing or two about survival." Vinnie stated.

"Yes, that's real charming." Watts said, dismissing the short story. "I have you to thank because I now have all the data I need. However, there is still one more task for you to complete; one that I think you are more than capable of handling." Watts sipped some tea from his mug before continuing his explanation. "Last night, I planted a small device outside of the exchange student dorm. Sadly, the sound wasn't clear enough to hear, so I need you to relocate it inside. It should be below one of the windows on the first floor. Once you do that, you will need you secure it inside the room that correlates with the window that you get it from. Just like before, do NOT let anybody see you doing this."

"Let make sure I'm crystal clear on this. First you made me hack into a laptop with the list of players, and now you need me to plant an eavesdropping device in a student dorm room!? Look man, I'm just a street hustler from Central Vale; I don't but into the whole secret agent stuff. I'm only doing this because of the deal we made."

"I'm quite aware of that, Mr. Trailburn. You're very lucky our thoughts are mutual on the agreement. If I still needed you for anything, I wouldn't let you back out that easily." Suddenly, Watt's scroll rang and showed the caller ID "Leo" on the screen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some loose ends to tie up, like chasing down a couple of rats." The shady man said has he slipped out of the library to answer his call.

"Two rats. If one's Jaune, then who's the other? Is it another outsider besides me?" Vinnie said to himself as he prepared to leave.

* * *

Around 4:45 pm, Jaune, Nora, and Ren were about to enter the tournament hall to see who they were playing in round 3. The majority of all the players were doing the same thing, but the only person they could not find was the top student of Beacon.

"Have either of you seen Pyrrha?" Jaune asked his friends, hoping they had some insight. Ren and Nora shook their heads and shrugged. "I just hope she's feeling better today. Her previous game wasn't the greatest."

"I'm sure she'll turn up soon. Anyway, good luck in your game, Jaune." Ren said as he and his pink haired partner looked at the pairings. "Umm, Jaune. You'd better come take a look at this. You're in for a big shock."

"Kick his butt, Jaune! And remember, we'll be rooting for you in spirit!" Nora cheered as she and Ren proceeded to each of their assigned boards.

"They seemed a little too hyped up over the pairings. Let's see what they're making a big deal out of." As Jaune skimmed through the list, he paused in silence as he saw whom his opponent was.

1

White: Dove Bronzewing (1600) 1.5

Black: Cinder Fall (1900) 2.0

2

White: Jaune Arc (unr) 2.0

Black: Cardin Winchester (unr) 2.0

3

White: Velvet Scarlatina (unr) 1.5

Black: Weiss Schnee (1550) 1.5

4

White: Yatsuhashi Daichi (1750) 1.0

Black: Penny Polendina (unr) 1.5

5

White: Pyrrha Nikos (1700) 1.0

Black: Emerald Sustrai (1450) 1.0

6

White: Blake Belladonna (1350) 1.0

Black: Mercury Black (1650) 1.0

7

White: Lie Ren (1250) 1.0

Black: Coco Adel (1500) 1.0

8

White: Fox Alister (unr) 1.0

Black: Russell Thrush (unr) 0

9

White: Nora Valkyrie (unr) 0

Black: Sky Lark (unr) 0

10

White: Ruby Rose (unr) 0

Black: Yang Xiao Long (unr) 0

"Why am I not surprised. Hmm, let's just get this over with." Jaune sighed. As the blonde made his way over to board 2, Cardin was already seated in front of the black pieces, waiting patiently for his friendly rival.

"Hey, Jauney. Fancy seeing you at the same board." Said Cardin.

"My thoughts exactly, Cardin. Let's make this game the best we've ever played." Jaune said while adjusting the pieces.

"Right back at ya." Little did Jaune know there was something else on the black knight's mind. "As long as he doesn't get under my skin, I'll keep it clean. Either way, my trusty Caro-Kann should prove to be more than enough to defeat the kid." Cardin thought. Once the players were all seated, Professor Goodwitch appeared at the podium instead of Ozpin.

"Attention, please. There is something I need to address before we begin the third round. We talked about the touch-move rule yesterday, but there's one exception that we forgot to mention. If you need to reposition a piece for whatever reason, whether you bump it on accident or if it's unevenly placed on a square, you must say "adjust" before touching it; otherwise you will be forced to move it for that turn. Since Professor Ozpin is still not here, I'll go ahead and give you all a quick reminder that round 4 starts tomorrow at 10 am. Be sure to get a good night's rest so you're not late in the morning. Alright children, you may begin." Jaune and Cardin gave each other a strong handshake, showing just how serious they were about giving it 100%.

1\. e4, c6

2\. d4, d5

3\. exd5, cxd5

"As solid as the Caro-Kann Defense may be, Cardin will have to put up a good fight in the exchange variation. My light-square bishop should be of good use at this time." Jaune planned.

4\. Bd3, Nc6

5\. c3, e5

"Hmm, an offbeat move. Let's hope I play this right." Jaune briefly looked around the hall to see where everybody else was sitting. He finally saw Pyrrha sitting down at board 5, playing against Emerald. It was calming to know that the redhead made it safe and sound.

6\. dxe5, Nxe5

7\. Qe2, Qe7

8\. Bb5+, Bd7

9\. Bxd7+, Nxd7

10\. Be3, Ngf6

11\. Nd2, g6

"I'd bet my mace Jauney didn't expect the middle game to turn out like this. I'll have a mean bishop eyeing down on the center while his is still camping in front of his queen." Cardin thought deviously.

"I don't like where this is going. Pyrrha lost because of a razor-sharp tactic Cardin pulled off. There's only one way I can avoid the same fate." Jaune thought to himself nervously.

12\. Bd4

"Heh, he's already moving an active piece a second time." Thought Cardin. Before he could brush off the passive looking move, Cardin then saw the real intention behind the move and he did not like it one bit. "That son of a bitch! The dweeb really knows how to take the fun out of chess. We're twelve moves into the game and there's already a forced queen trade. Pssh, have it your way, Jauney."

12\. …Qxe2

13\. Nxe2, Bg7

14\. 0-0, 0-0

15\. Rad1, Rac8

"That looks like a dubious move for Cardin. His rook poses no threat in the c-file. I should take this time to look for tactics."

16\. Nf3, b6

17\. Nf4, Rfe8

18\. Nxd5

"If Cardin immediately takes my knight, I can exchange bishops and win the knight back with my rook. No matter what happens, I'm still a pawn up." Jaune assured himself

18\. …Re2

"Two can play at that. Let's see how you handle my active rook." Cardin eagerly thought as he crossed his arms.

19\. Nxf6+, Nxf6

20\. Rd2, Rce8

21\. Rfd1, Rxd2

22\. Rxd2, Re6

23\. Kf1

"My fianchettoed bishop is no longer an asset. Now it's become a burden. I hate to do this, but I have to trade it off." Cardin begrudgingly prepared to move his knight out of the way to clear the diagonal.

23\. …Ne8

24\. Bxg7, Kxg7

25\. Re2, Kf6

26\. Rxe6, Kxe6

27\. Ng5+, Kd5

28\. Nxf7

"I can't believe it! He won another pawn so easily! We're in a knight and pawn endgame and it's obvious he's winning in this position. There's only one way I can get out of this alive." After noticing he still had one hour left on his clock. Cardin got up from his chair and left the table. As he exited the doors, Pyrrha turned around and saw what had happened. She simply nodded and had the look in her eye as though she knew what was really going on.

* * *

It took about ten minutes for Cardin to make it all the way to the dorm. His true destination was the restroom on the first floor, a place he was certain where nobody would be. Once Cardin entered the men's room, he double checked to make sure the coast was clear. He then entered a stall and locked the door behind.

"Alright scroll, work your magic for me." Cardin said. Once his scroll was fully booted on, he opened an app called Houdini which was a very popular chess engine. From memory, Cardin recreated the position that he and Jaune had in their game, and turned on the feature that tells what the best moves are. Right when Cardin was initiating the engine to form an analysis, the battery died.

"Crap! I forgot to charge my scroll after round 2! Cardin unlocked the stall and punched the door open in frustration. Just as he thought things couldn't get worse, Cardin stumbled upon the one person he was most afraid of encountering: Professor Ozpin.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Winchester?" Ozpin rhetorically asked the guilty teen, who looked as though he just had a heart attack.

"I needed to call my mom, but my scroll battery died." Cardin lied. Ozpin made eye cotanct and saw through the obvious bluff.

"I have heard many stories in my life, and I know when people are lying to me. I will ask you again, Mr. Winchester and I expect an honest answer. Why do you have your scroll in the restroom?" Ozpin firmly interrogated.

"I was about to make a movie on my chess engine, but the battery is dead." "Honest!" Cardin answered quickly.

"And if your scroll was still powered on, would the move correlate with the game you are currently playing against Mr. Arc?" Ozpin persisted.

"Y-Yes… yes sir, it would." Cardin said with a stutter. At that point, the leader of Team CRDL felt so humiliated he almost to shrink out of existence.

"As everyone should be aware by now, cheating is a grave offense in both academic and extracurricular activities." Ozpin stated. "Do you understand the consequences of your actions, Cardin?

"Yes Professor, I do understand. It was my selfish ego that got the best of me." Cardin said with his eyes to the floor.

"I have watched you and your classmates for a very longtime, and it is very common for people your age to envy the achievements of their peers." Ozpin bluntly stated. "Having said all of that, I still sense great potential in your knowledge of chess, considering how much time Mr. Bronzewing put into training you and your two closest allies."

"Thank you, sir. We really did put serious effort into our training routine. Jaune was the one who inspired all four of us, especially Dove." Cardin replied, feeling a slight bit more at ease.

"I'm happy to hear that. Now follow me; I have a small pretest for you, Mr. Winchester. If you can explain these scenarios, I will let you resume play in the tournament." Ozpin and Cardin left the bathroom and walked down the corridors of the student dormitory. "First question, regarding your game in round 2. After you sacrificed your bishop for a pawn and then put black's king in check, what else did you foresee had Ms. Nikos made any other move besides king to h8?"

"She should've exchanged Queens when she had the chance, but even if she did, I still would've forked her rook and king two turns later." Cardin explained.

"And you knew all of this even without the engine, didn't you?" asked Ozpin.

"Yes sir. That was what I visualized with my own thinking. The engine only told me how to go for the smothered mate if black were to avoid the exchange, which is basically how everything played out." Said Cardin.

"Very good, Cardin. Now for my next question, which is about your first game. How did you defeat Ms. Belladonna so easily in one of the most theoretically complex middle game positions? And when I say this, I mean that even the most high-level players analyze it heavily and still make mistakes. You never left the table, yet you won by a landslide." The wise professor recalled.

"About that game, sir. I swear I didn't pull any strings with Blake. The only reason I had an easy victory was because I researched her opening repertoire on . I knew she was a queen-pawn opener and I knew how she would play against my Semi-Slav Defense. I'm not gonna hide it anymore; the only reason I caved in against Pyrrha was because of my desire for vengeance." Cardin fully admitted.

"Although it is mildly frowned upon, researching an opponent prior to a rated match is not against the rules. I will accept your alibi for round 1, but in regards to your scheme in the second match, I'm afraid I can't let you off that easily. There is one final test I have for you if you want avoid disqualification." Ozpin proposed.

"I'm all ears, Professor." Cardin said. They finally made it outside the dorm where they could get some fresh air.

"Your task is to defeat Mr. Arc in the current game you two are in. I may give you a pass on a draw depending on the position, but should you lose; whether it be by checkmate or resignation, I will be convinced that your previous victory was a fraud and that your VCF membership will be permanently revoked. Do I make myself clear?" Ozpin questioned.

"Yes sir." Cardin said without hesitation.

"I was hoping you would say that. I think I've kept you long enough, you should go back to your now." Ozpin said, dismissing the student.

"Yes sir, I will." As Cardin directed himself towards the school building, he paused and turned back at the old man. "Professor, one more thing." Ozpin's eyebrow perked. "I needed that pep talk. I'm gonna make this match count!" Ozpin gently smiled and allowed Cardin to return to the tournament hall.

* * *

Jaune had been waiting patiently for his rival to come back and make a move. After waiting for about thirty minutes, Cardin made his reentrance and proceeded down the aisle. Pyrrha glanced over and saw a different look in Cardin's eyes than before.

"He's changed." Pyrrha thought to herself. She then turned back to focus on her game.

"Sorry about that." Cardin whispered to Jaune, who politely nodded. They continued the game where they left off.

28\. …Nf6

29\. Ng5, b5

30\. Ke2, Kc4

31\. f3, Nd5

32\. Kd2

"Ugh, almost had him. Had he taken my pawn, I would've sacked the knight for two pawns, giving me a two-on-one advantage on the queenside. At this rate, my only option is to fight for a draw." Cardin thought.

32\. …b4

33\. b3+, Kc3

34\. Ne4+, Kc6

35\. cxb4, Nxb4

36\. a3, Nd5

37\. g3, a5

"I never seen Cardin look so intense before. The look in his eyes and the way he moves the pieces; he's playing as if his life is on the line." Jaune observed. In a way, he liked the trill of a good game, but it was easier for him to feel that way when of course he had the winning position.

38\. Nc3, Nf6

39\. b4, axb4

40\. axb4, Nd5

"It's time to wrap this up."

41\. Nxd5, Kxd5

42\. Kd3, g5

43\. b5, Kc5

"No… I'm actually going to lose! Not just the game, but my reputation. If I get DQ'd, my team will never forgive me!" Cardin struggled.

44\. Ke4, Kxb5

45\. Kf5, h6

46\. Kg6, Kc5

47\. Kxh6, g4

48\. f4, Kd5

49\. Kg5, Ke6

50\. Kxg4

"It's over. There's nothing I can do. Russell… Dove… Sky… I am, terribly sorry." Cardin slowly tipped his black king over and looked up at his opponent.

"I resign. Well played, Jauney. Well played…"

"You fought a great match, Cardin." Jaune whispered as they slowly shook hands. "Come one, we still have to write down the result." After the two boys arranged the pieces and reset the clocks, they jotted down the win and loss and went outside to talk.

"Jaune… I have a confession to make." Jaune became silent and chose to listen instead of ask questions. "In my second game… I pulled a fast one against Pyrrha. I was about to do the same thing in our game, but then… then I had a change of heart. I know we've had our troubles in the past, but I had to think things over. If I were to rob another game like that, I would only be lying to myself as a chess player and as a person."

"And for that Mr. Winchester, you have passed the test." A voice spoke from behind. Jaune and Cardin turned around quickly to see Professor Ozpin come out of nowhere. "I heard the whole conversation, and because of your valiant effort, you are free to continue playing in the tournament."

"Really? That's great, Professor! From now on, I'll play with only my greatest effort and not rely on outside sources!" Cardin proudly declared.

"I admire you change of heart, Mr. Winchester. You two should get plenty of rest for tomorrow. With that said, I will see both of you in the morning." Ozpin went back inside to monitor the rest of the competition.

"You heard the man. I gotta get some shut-eye myself. Sleep tight, bro." Cardin said as he parted ways towards the dorm. Jaune smiled as he watched the reformed chess player walk away. A few seconds later, Pyrrha came out of the school building to reconnect with her leader.

"So, Cardin sure seems different now." Pyrrha said playfully.

"Pyrrha, you're acting rather cheery all the sudden. Did you win your game?" Jaune asked.

"Hmm, good question. Maybe you should ask her." Pyrrha giggled. Jaune turned around and saw Emerald walk out of the tournament hall, cursing under her breath. The mint-haired thief purposely ignored the couple as she stormed away with a hot angry expression.

"Yeah… I think I know what that means." Jaune said with a chuckle. "Wait a minute, there's something else on your mind, isn't there!? Were you spying on me, Cardin, and Ozpin!?"

"Well… you could say I had to pull some strings with the headmaster." Pyrrha said with a clever grin. "Follow me, I'll tell you everything when we get to the rooftop."


	10. Chapter 10: The Ties of Friendship

Chapter 10

"That's crazy! You and Ozpin were in on it all along, and Cardin had no idea!" Jaune said with surprise. He and Pyrrha were on the dorm rooftop talking about everything that happened behind the scenes. It was a short but complicated story that tied into how the headmaster helped to bring some sense into the Team CRDL leader.

"I wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but the professor was very certain there was still some good sportsmanship in Cardin. Of course, we couldn't guarantee what would happen if his scroll battery didn't die." Pyrrha stated. Jaune was not sure how to take it at first, if Pyrrha wanted Cardin disqualified or not. Whatever the case was could be, Jaune was glad that his teammate was no stressed about it anymore.

"I think everything turned out fine. Now we can kick back and sleep good tonight." Jaune said as he looked up at the sky.

"That reminds me, does Vinnie need to stay with us for one more night?" Pyrrha asked all of the sudden.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I haven't seen him at all today, but I have a strong sense that he'll need a place to stay again." By a mere coincidence, Vinnie appeared on the scene.

"I thought I'd find you two up here. I must say it gives us a very scenic view of the campus." He said to the young students as he took a seat next to Jaune.

"Hey Vinnie! Did you get to watch our games earlier? So far, we're still on a solid streak." Said Jaune.

"I sure did. You've got three points now, Jaune! As long as you maintain your focus, it'll all play out just fine." Vinnie assured his favorite chess buddy.

"I told Jaune that you're more than welcome to stay with us again for the night. We already prepared the sleeping bad again." Pyrrha insisted.

"Awesome! I knew I could count on ya'll to help a brother out. I'll be down in the room getting ready for bed." Vinnie said with gratitude.

"Hold on, Vin. You'll need a scroll to open the lock. I'll help you get in." Jaune said.

"Oh, that's fine. I already- ahem. I mean, yes please. That would help." Vinnie corrected himself before could blabbermouth about Watts' scroll.

"It's getting late, anyway. We should all go back inside." The redhead said to her leader and the hustler. The trio got up on their feet and went back through the exit, making their way back to the room of Team JNPR.

* * *

In Team RWBY's dorm room, Blake was quietly reading her favorite book _Ninjas of Love_ while Weiss was looking over her notation sheet from round 3. Ruby and Yang were playing a casual game of chess, with Zwei eagerly watching on the side.

"That was a very good game we had, Yang. You really like to get aggressive with your knights, don't you?" Said Ruby.

"It's all part of the fun. I figured it would be best to attack with the cute little pony when given the opportunity. On the other hand, you saw through me plan and punished me big time." Yang said cheerfully. "Oh, by the way, you're in check." Ruby moved her black king to safety from the white knight's attack. Yang then followed up with her Queen sliding down into the back rank, ending the game. "Checkmate."

"Good game." Ruby said kindly to her sister. Weiss and Blake both leaped out of their spots and attempted to brandish their weapons, only to realize that they were completely unarmed.

"We really need to come up with a new name for our move." Blake said regretfully.

"Well Yang, at least you still got some good moves. I know you can win tomorrow." Ruby said to her sister.

"I'll give it my all. Seriously though, it would be cool to win both games in one day. That'll put me up to two points. Speaking of which, how did the two of you do last round?" Yang asked both the faunus and the heiress.

"I had a close game against Mercury, but then I blundered the game away." Blake answered. "It's incredible how only one bad move in the endgame can determine the result so easily. Oh well, you get what you get on any given day."

"I drew against Penny in round 2 and defeated Velvet in round 3. I still have a chance for first, but only if I score two more points." Weiss stated.

"I know you can do it, Weiss! As your greatest BFF, I will give you the biggest good luck hug to help you win tomorrow!" Ruby cheered as she darted over to her teammate to give a tight hug.

"I am dying and screaming in the inside." Weiss whispered to herself as her left eyed twitched in annoyance.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cinder's faction was getting ready for bed while still thinking all about the tournament. The devious diva was in the bathroom while Mercury and Emerald were lying on their beds looking up at the ceiling. Between the two of them, the dark-skinned pickpocket was the angriest and least willing to talk about her day

"So, you lost to the goody-good shoes, eh? Mercury teased his partner in crime. In truth, he was still mentally sore from losing to Jaune.

"Better than losing to the dimwit you played." Emerald sneered. She turned her back towards her silver haired friend to emphasize her angry mood.

"Look, he just got lucky. When I had my queen up his grill, you could see the fear in his eyes." Mercury answered back while trying to defend his case. "As soon as I realized Jaune had the active king, I offered his ass a draw, but he didn't buy into it. I guess the boss will have to fry his carcass." In the meantime, Cinder opened the door and walked in to see her two cohorts venting off steam.

"I know you two had a rough day with Team JNPR. Make no mistake, Mercury. Your victory against the faunus was rather impressive. Think of it as your redemption for losing to the young contender."

"Wait, back up a minute. The quiet girl from Team RWBY is a faunus?" Emerald asked for clarification.

"That bow she wears should not fool you so easily, Emerald." Cinder stated. "I know from experience about those with concealed animal attributes. Of course, they all have different reasons and different methods. I know one personally and it pains me to say that you will meet him eventually. Believe me, he is someone you can never forget after meeting him the first time." Upon saying all of this, Cinder could only imagine the gnarly scorpion tail and the maniacal laughter of her inner-circle associate; Tyrian Callows. The mere thought of him made the diva cringe. "I apologize for side-tracking. We need all the rest we can get for tomorrow." All three of them called it a night and turned the lights off. Before closing her eyes, the femme fatale had one last thought on her mind.

"I can't wait to crush the boy myself. After I'm win, he'll never want to play again." Cinder whispered to herself with a wicked smile as her eyes glowed orange.

* * *

In the early morning, all of the students were invited once again to another breakfast, a way to keep their appetite satisfied before the 10 AM match. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were sitting together near the end of the dining hall, closest to the door. Suddenly, Ruby's favorite artificial friend arrived at their table to say hello.

"Salutations. I hope everybody is enjoying a good hearty breakfast." Penny greeted.

"Hi Penny. You seem very energetic today. Are you running on good batt-, I mean, energy today?" Ruby asked, while also correcting herself.

"Boy do I feel great today. The tournament has been such a wonderful learning experience. Also, thank you for a wonderful game, Weiss Schnee. I look forward to a rematch in the future."

"Likewise. I hope you do well in your games today." Weiss replied.

"Thank you for the compliment. I must be going now." Penny made her exit and left without eating, much to everyone's surprise besides Ruby.

"She's nice, but very socially awkward." Weiss commented.

"I didn't see her eat anything. Not even the bacon, the cereal, or the pancakes! Who doesn't like pancakes!?" Nora freaked.

"I'm sure Penny has some very strict diet that she has to follow." Ruby said with a wide nervous grin.

"There's a good chance the pairings will be up about an hour before the round starts." Said Ren.

"In fact, I see Professor Port putting up the bulletin board right now as we speak." Blake noted.

"I'll go take a quick look to see who I'm playing. Don't worry, I'll be back." Jaune said as he got up from his seat.

"He's definitely the most passionate player out of all of us. I'd better go check on him." Pyrrha said, getting up to follow her friend.

* * *

Jaune approached the pairing sheet before anyone else had a chance to look at it. Knowing whom he would be playing was all part of the mental preparation. The real question in his mind was whether he would be playing a friend or a foe. Jaune skimmed through the list to look for his own name as well as his own friends.

1

White: Cinder Fall (1900) 3.0

Black: Penny Polendina (unr) 2.5

2

White: Weiss Schnee (1550) 2.5

Black: Jaune Arc (unr) 3.0

3

White: Pyrrha Nikos (1700) 2.0

Black: Fox Alister (unr) 2.0

4

White: Cardin Winchester (unr) 2.0

Black: Mercury Black (1650) 2.0

5

White: Coco Adel (1500) 2.0

Black: Dove Bronzewing (1600) 1.5

6

White: Lie Ren (1250) 1.0

Black: Velvet Scarlatina (unr) 1.5

7

White: Sky Lark (unr) 1.0

Black: Yatsuhashi Daichi (1750) 1.0

8

White: Emerald Sustrai (1450) 1.0

Black: Ruby Rose (unr) 1.0

9

White: Russell Thrush (unr) 0

Black: Blake Belladonna (1350) 1.0

10

White: Yang Xiao Long (unr) 0

Black: Nora Valkyrie (unr) 0

"Let's see what we got here. Pyrrha's facing Fox, Ren's paired against Velvet, I'm playing… Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no! Not her! Anybody but her!" Jaune bolted out the doors and ran outside in frustration. Pyrrha followed as fast as she could, and eventually caught up to her leader.

"Jaune, what's the matter? Why are you so upset?" Pyrrha quickly asked.

"See for yourself! I have to play against Weiss!" Jaune cried.

"Jaune, get a hold of yourself. You'll still be friends no matter what happens!" Pyrrha barked.

"I can't play this round! If Weiss wins, she'll think I'm a loser. If I win, she'll hate me forever!" Jaune continued to panic helplessly.

"Jaune! Look at me! It's just a game!" Pyrrha assertively said to her dearest friend. The whole situation was starting to feel like déjà vu, except this time the roles had been switched.

"But it's more than just a game! It's an eternal struggle between-."

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha unintentionally released a burst of her polarity, which blasted Jaune and knocked him against a tree trunk. The spartan ran to her friend as fast as she could, feeling guilty for her actions.

"Jaune, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-."

"It's cool. I'm the one who should be sorry for getting too carried away. I'll won't do that again, I promise." Said Jaune. Pyrrha grabbed the warrior's hand and eased him up on both feet. "Wow, your aura training did come in handy. Otherwise, that tree would've really put me in ICU."

"We only have an hour left before the fourth round starts." Pyrrha recalled. "Let's go back to the room for now."

* * *

It was about 9:50 AM when the tournament hall was filling up with the players. Jaune had already fully recovered from the earlier impact thanks to his aura level. Before Jaune entered the hall, Cardin was also about to go inside.

"Hey Jaune, I saw your pairing earlier. I think this is gonna be your toughest game yet." Said Cardin.

"I know, right? It sucks it had to be this way." Jaune said, not feeling any better about it.

"I also happened to notice you beat the guy I'm playing this round. You got any pointers for me?" Cardin asked. Jaune did not want to blatantly give away Mercury's chess strategy, but he knew he had to give some friendly advice."

"My only suggestion is to play solid and pay very close attention to what he's trying to accomplish. The rest will all come natural." Jaune advised.

"Thanks, bro. You and Oz have been a great help to me. Best of luck!" Cardin went into the hall to find his table. Jaune followed from behind and saw Weiss sitting down at board 2. After he got himself settled in, Jaune could sense a level of awkwardness in the situation, but he also didn't want to be too casual about it.

"Hey… what's up?" Jaune said, trying to improve the mood. The heiress looked up at her hopeless lover and game him a simple nod and a neutral expression. Weiss had no ill feelings towards Jaune, but she still had absolutely no intention of losing. Professor Ozpin approached the microphone to give a quick pitch to the players.

"I take it everyone had a good breakfast this morning. I am also happy to announce that we are now more than halfway through the tournament, and it has all gone according to plan. As a quick reminder, the last round will start this afternoon at 3:15. Please remember that if you need to withdraw from the tournament for any reason, you must let one of us know ahead of time; that way we know not to pair you in the upcoming round. I hope we're all clear on this, and with that out of the way, please shake hands and start your clocks."

"Good luck, Weiss." Jaune whispered. The two players diligently shook hands and started the game.


	11. Chapter 11: The Heiress and the Knight

Chapter 11

Weiss was not quick to move right away when Jaune started the clock. She debated on which pawn to move forward; either the queen pawn or the king pawn. After ten seconds, the first move was played.

1\. e4, e6

2\. d4, d5

Weiss was clearly taken back by the opening being played against her. Not because she thought it was a serious threat, but the fact it was also her favorite response to e4.

"That lousy copycat! Out of all the openings for black, he plays my favorite one!" Weiss thought angrily. "Hmph, if Jaune really thinks he's knows the French, then I'll give him something to work his brain around."

3\. Nd2

"That's a very unusual move. Ozpin showed me the classical and the advanced variations, but this one… what was it called again?" Jaune had to think really hard about the offbeat line Weiss was turning the game into, even though it was introduced in a private lesson. "I remember now! It's the Tarrasch variation, white's most complicated opening against the French Defense! All I have to do is go with my typical development, stick to the plan, and punish any inaccurate moves."

3\. …Nf6

4\. e5, Nfd7

5\. Bd3, c5

6\. c3, Nc6

"He's not half-bad. Jaune clearly had some good coaching before the tournament." Weiss begrudgingly admitted to herself. "Not that I'm worried; I'll enforce the aggression once my pieces are all in place."

7\. Ne2, cxd4

8\. cxd4, Qb6

9\. Nf3

"I can see it in her eyes. Weiss thinks she can go on the offense before me, but that's not completely true. With her c-pawn out of the way, I can do something that'll force her to really think." Jaune saw a possible move that could stir the pot, with the thought of creating tactics and stop white's slow maneuvers.

9\. …Bb4+

10\. Bd2, f6

11\. exf6, Nxf6

12\. 0-0, 0-0

Unlike the other games Jaune had completed, this one was going by significantly faster. He and Weiss had only used about thirty minutes total, an average of approximately a minute per move. The pensive yet confident boy got up from his seat and looked around to see if there were any interesting games going on. After leaving the table, the ice queen was still in deep concentration and needed to come up with a practical plan.

As he walked the tournament hall, Jaune figured it would be okay to watch the game he was most curious to observe, which was Cardin vs. Mercury; two opponents he had already defeated. Cardin had the white pieces and had great control of space. On the contrary, Mercury was keeping his pieces hidden well behind pawn barricades to strike through the center at the perfect time. Jaune could tell by the middlegame position Cardin had opened with his queen pawn and Mercury responded with the King's Indian Defense. After spending about twenty seconds watching that game, the hero decided to go fill up his water cup and return to his board. By the time Jaune had sat back down, Weiss made a desperate yet lazy move.

13\. a3

Little did she know, the heiress had made a move which seemed to force the bishop to retreat, but in reality, she had completely given up the initiative. The small pawn push was no serious threat to Jaune, who then quickly knew which square to bring the bishop back to.

13\. …Bd6

14\. Qc2, e5

15\. dxe5, Nxe5

16\. Nxe5, Bxe5

In this critical position, Weiss was taking a lot more time than Jaune to make her moves, due to the fact that he had a plan to sever the white king. Slowly but surely, the sassy rich girl was bringing herself closer to her own doom.

"I don't know how to explain, but I can sense my advantage has disappeared. I'd better go walk around and rethink my strategy." Weiss thought as she eased herself up from the chair. She walked around to help release the tension in her body and hopefully release any distraction in her mind.

* * *

At the front of the hall, Professor Ozpin was silently observing all of the games in session and deeply admired the tournament atmosphere. He sipped his coffee as quietly as he could to prevent distraction, and then looked back down at the chess book he was reading called _My 60 Memorable Games_ by Bobby Fischer. Even as an arbitrator, the stoic headmaster needed something to preoccupy himself to help time go by faster. Suddenly, Professor Goodwitch approached him from the side.

"Sir, there's something which requires your attention." Goodwitch whispered to her superior.

"Let's discuss it outside. I'll have Barty supervise while we're absent." Ozpin whispered back. Ozpin signaled Dr. Oobleck to take the post while the stern couple made their exit. Once they were outside, Goodwitch unfolded a copy of the round 4 pairings for Ozpin to look over.

"Oz, I believe these pairings have been tampered with somehow. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Goodwitch asked rhetorically.

"Glynda, if you're asking about the players paired up with uneven scores, that's perfectly normal in tournament play." Ozpin answered.

"I understand that part, sir. What I don't get is why Cinder Fall and Jaune Arc were not paired for this round, despite each of them having three points." Goodwitch said with greater emphasis.

"Based on the current standings, Ms. Schnee and Ms. Polendina play a major role in this round. They have already played each other in round 2, and they each have two and a half points. Therefore, the computer will naturally pair each of them against the higher placed opponents." Ozpin explained. "If it makes you feel more at ease, I can manually insert the players by-."

"Sorry Oz, I didn't mean it like that." Goodwitch interjected. "I just a bad feeling about all this… and I think you feel it too." Ozpin almost broke eye contact from the telekinetic huntress because to some degree, she was right. The wise professor had a flashback of the moment he first met Vinnie and saw the initials A.W. on the blue jacket.

"You know too well, Glynda. In that case, we need to keep a close watch on all the spectators, and when you get the chance, please be sure to bring Peter up to speed. I'll let Barty know about this as well." Ozpin ordered.

"Understood, sir. Thank you for taking your time to listen." Goodwitch and Ozpin kindly nodded to ensure they were now on the same page. The headmaster went back inside the tournament hall while the stern professor returned to the amphitheater. Once Ozpin made it all the way back to his post, he relieved Dr. Oobleck and resumed reading the chess book written by Fischer.

"I don't sense any serious danger within the tournament itself." Ozpin thought to himself. "However, if there really is something amidst within our school, I'm afraid we won't know who or what it is we're dealing with until we're in the thick of it."

* * *

Weiss returned to her seat, and felt better after a refreshing walk. Once again, she looked carefully at her pawn on b2, which was under attack by two of black's pieces. Weiss followed her gut feeling and defended.

17\. Rab1

"Big mistake, Weiss. As much I don't want to see you lose, it's the only way you're going to learn and get better." Jaune thought. "It's time to go for a full-scale attack."

17\. …Ng4

"My goodness, he really knows how to get aggressive I can't afford to play any quiet moves; I have to counter!" Weiss desperately looked for any piece she could pick off for free and found what may have been a forced move.

18\. Bxh7, Kh8

19\. Be3, Nxe3

20\. fxe3, Qxe3+

21\. Kh1, Bg4

"This is inconceivable! How could I be losing to the most thick-headed student at Beacon!? I refuse to let this happen!" Weiss's right hand twitched as she reached over to move her knight to a safe square."

"Guess we're gonna have to finish this the hard way." Jaune said in the back of his mind. He patiently waited for Weiss to finish her move and once she did, he wrote it down on his notation sheet.

22\. Nc3, Qh6

23\. h3, Bxh3

24\. Qg6, Bxg2+

"I've lost... No matter what I do, he has mate in one…" Weiss's stared angrily at her king, which was still in double check by Jaune's bishop and queen. After coming to terms with the inevitable, the cynical girl quickly took back with her king.

25\. Kxg2, Qh2#

"Good game." Jaune whispered, while offering a friendly handshake. Weiss dismissed the kind gesture and sprung out of her chair; while proceeding to storm down the long aisle. The sound of her clicking high heels echoed throughout the entire hall, which distracted a few players and tempted them into looking back. After Weiss left the building completely, Jaune reorganized the pieces and then went over to the bulletin board to write down the result.

"She used and hour and I used thirty minutes. I'll go see how Cardin's doing in his match." Jaune thought. When he approached board 4, Jaune was intrigued to see how much the game had shifted into utter chaos. Cardin had won a rook for a bishop; putting him up two points in material, but Mercury had a vicious pawn storm marching down the kingside. The steel-legged assassin also had his queen and light-square bishop eyeing down on the h3 square, putting serious pressure on white's camp.

"Mercury's planning to sacrifice his bishop to bust open white's barricade. I don't see how Cardin can get out of this." Jaune analyzed. Cardin looked up at Jaune, and lightly shook his head in disappointment. He knew what his white armored buddy was visualizing, and knew the position was in favor of Mercury. Regardless, Cardin turned back to his game and regained focus; while proceeding to bring a knight over to protect his king. At that point, Jaune decided to leave the hall.

"I've seen enough. I'd better go find Vinnie." Jaune said to himself once he made it outside.

* * *

Once he got inside the amphitheater, Jaune looked around to see where his chess friend could be. The majority of the spectators were middle-aged adults who were most likely the parents of some of the players, as well other chess enthusiasts from all over Vale. Vinnie was sitting in the front row, still sporting the same formal attire he had received from Dr. Watts.

"Still looking sharp in that blue blazer." Jaune complimented.

"Thanks bro, but not as sharp as that checkmate you landed in your game! Nice moves!" Vinnie said back to the chess genius. "Check this out. I've been watching these games, and I think board 1 is the real piece of eye candy. You'll most likely be playing the winner of this match." Jaune looked up at the monitor which was broadcasting the game between Cinder and Penny. They each had a queen and two rooks and pawn storms on each side of the board. Cinder had the queenside majority with her white pawns, and Penny had the kingside majority with her black pawns.

"Based on what I learned about heavy piece endgames, Ozpin said the side that can create a passed pawn first will have major advantage." Jaune recalled.

"Let's not forget about king safety. Black is looking a little exposed over on the kingside, and if she's not careful, white can exert massive pressure in the open g-file." Vinnie added. "Speaking of which, I've seen how that Cinder girl plays, and man she is one tough cookie. She likes to bring her queen out early and after that she'll go for the-."

"Hold your thought, Vinnie." Jaune interrupted. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I have to figure this out on my own. I do appreciate you trying to help." Vinnie smiled.

"You really know how to play with honor. I respect that." The two friends gave each other a bro handshake and continued watching the other screens. All of the sudden, the game between Pyrrha and Fox display the message "Black is checkmated."

"Sweet! Pyrrha now has three wins!" Jaune cheered.

"I'm afraid there's more where that came from." Vinnie pointed out. On the screen with Cinder and Penny's game, there was also the same message that said "Black is checkmated." The position showed the white queen on h6 smothering the black king on g7. One of white's rook was protecting the queen while the other rook had complete control of the 8th rank. With that victory, Cinder was now at four points just like Jaune. "Well, at least you know who you're playin' next round."

"Good point. Anyway, I'm gonna meet up with Pyrrha and grab something to eat. You're welcome to come with us, if you'd like." Jaune said.

"Yeah, I can tag along. Thanks for the offer." Said Vinnie. He and Jaune took one at glance at the games that were still active on the monitors, and then they left the amphitheater.

* * *

When the chess duo crossed through the plaza area in front of Beacon, they saw Cardin walk out of the double door entrance to the main tower. Judging by the bland expression the ex-bully had, it was clear he had been defeated by Mercury.

"I saw the position you were in earlier. Sorry about what happened." Jaune said sympathetically. Cardin looked back and quietly nodded.

"It's nothing to be mad about, Jauney." Said Cardin. "As much as I hate losing to that grey-haired prick, you still taught me somethin' very important, which I'll never forget. It's better to lose with dignity than win with deception. My losses will only make me stronger as long as I keep my mind open." Vinnie and Jaune were both completely silent as they listened to the proud leader of Team CRDL go on his monologue. It felt more appropriate to stay quiet and let Cardin have the spotlight. "No matter how difficult things may get for me or my teammates, we won't surrender without a fight. There's still one more round left in this tournament, and we're going to make it count! I'll be in the dorm get ready for my last game. You take it easy, Jauney." As soon as Cardin walked away from the area, Jaune and Vinnie sensed it was okay to talk openly.

"You really do have a way of influencing others." Vinnie said. Jaune gave a polite smile, but felt that he needed to assure it was not getting to his head.

"I try to help others the best I can. That's what friends are for."


	12. Chapter 12: Face-Off

Chapter 12

It was 2:00 in the afternoon. Because the last game of round 4 had come to an end, it was time for the Beacon faculty members to reorganize and prepare for the final round. Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port went on break while Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin volunteered to straighten up the tournament hall. Luckily for them, no manual labor was required thanks to the telekinesis of the uptight magistrate.

"There were quite a few upset this round, at least that's what the spectators and I thought." Goodwitch said as she was using her riding crop to shift chairs and chess pieces back neatly. Ozpin had taken down the pairings from the bulletin board and laid the sheet next to the tournament laptop.

"More or less. I was not too surprised with Mr. Arc's victory over Ms. Schnee, but I did find the game between Ms. Rose and Ms. Sustrai to be a real eye catcher." Ozpin commented while keying in the results to his chess program.

"You're talking about the girl who's with the exchange students, aren't you?" Goodwitch assumed.

"That is correct. I looked at the endgame position they were in, and despite the clear tactic Ms. Rose had in front of her, she had this look of fear and distress in her silver eyes. It was almost as if she had seen a ghost." Ozpin said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"You're making it sound like she was hallucinating. I know you've always been very fascinated with that girl, but I'm sure she's perfectly fine." Goodwitch said confidently.

"You never know what could be going on in their minds, Glynda. It could be that the stress of the tournament was getting to her… or possibly something else." Ozpin speculated. "Regardless, Ms. Rose pulled through and won a rook. As soon as that happened, Ms. Sustrai immediately resigned out of anger and bolted out." There was a moment of awkward silence until the stoic magistrate had an old memory come out of nowhere.

"Funny to say that, Oz. I still remember the time when her teammate Mercury Black pulled a strange stunt, but nowhere near as aggressive. At the beginning of the semester, he challenged Ms. Nikos to a sparring match during combat class. They appeared to be evenly matched and everybody was so drawn into the action, when suddenly he surrendered." While still in deep thought of the flashback, Goodwitch retracted her crop and clipped it on the back of her boot. "I'll never forget that arrogant look in his eye. Even after he conceded, Mr. Black still appeared to be in a celebratory mood."

* * *

In Cinder's dorm room, Emerald slammed her fist on the wall and cursed loudly over her loss. Mercury laid on the bed whpretending like everything way A-Okay for the scantily clad rogue.

"How did she do it!? HOW DID FIND THAT FREAKIN' MOVE!?" Emerald shouted in upmost anger. "My illusion was supposed to make her blunder, NOT WIN!"

"If you want my opinion, I think she might've made a bad move if you had left your semblance out of the game." Mercury said with a tone meant to be both comedic and serious. "It didn't take much effort for me to stomp little red riding hood. I hate it say it Em, but you're clearly losing your touch at chess." Mercury said with a shrug. Infuriated by the double-edge advice, Emerald instantly drew one of her dual-pistols and fired an earth bullet right past the assassin's neck. Mercury kept his cool and did not even bother to look at his enraged partner in crime. "Hmph, someone could've heard that gunshot."

"Mercury, you know how much I hate that girl. If you ever say anything to suggest that she is better than me in any way, shape, or form, the next shot I fire at you won't miss!" Emerald, becoming even grouchier. "If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't give Roman a second chance if that kind of talk ever came from his stupid ass."

"For a pair of delinquents, I would hope you two paid better attention to your surroundings." Mercury and Emerald were both started to hear Cinder's voice in the room because of how distracted they were in the controversial debate. "Not to worry, I just now walked in and only her the gunshot from outside. Regardless of all that, I think our most talented thief needs to unwind herself and let go of all this anger." Emerald quickly regained her composure to show her upmost respect for the pseudo Fall Maiden. Before anybody could continue the conversation, Cinder paused unexpectedly and looked around the room as if she was trying to catch a fly.

"That sound, where's it coming from?" Cinder has her cohorts, who then got quiet and listened carefully. After ten seconds, Mercury then heard something faint.

"I think there's a quiet beep coming from below us." Mercury surmised. Cinder snapped her fingers and signaled her attack boy to look underneath the bed. "Um, Cinder; you're not gonna believe this, but I think someone's rigged our room." Mercury pulled out a strange object he had never seen before and showed it to the girls. To everyone's, a square-shaped electronic device with a tesla shaped antenna was revealed to be the culprit. The two teens were confused and nervous, while their alpha female did everything she could to hide her boiling anger. "Whatever that thing is, it definitely looks rigged." Mercury passed the device over to his boss, who then studied the detail and design.

"How long do you think that's been there?" Emerald asked with a bit of fear in her voice.

"The design looks too old to be made recently, and It's powered solely by electric dust." Cinder muttered while carefully examining the item. "Either way, it was obviously made to tap into conversations. Suddenly, Cinder's eyes narrowed in rage and a faint glow emitted from her body.

"Watts…"

* * *

Around 3:00, Team JNPR had arrived at the tournament hall to see whom they would all be playing in their last game. Considering how everyone was doing so far, Jaune already had his opponent figured out.

"You played against Cinder in the earlier rounds, didn't you Ren? How long were you able to hold your own in your game? Just curious." Asked Jaune.

"She had a winning position after ten moves into the game, and then I resigned on move twenty-three." Ren explained.

"Hmm, I expected as much. Mercury was hard enough to handle, and I know she's going to be absolute hell to deal with." Jaune blatantly stated.

"No matter what happens Jaune, you'll always be the champion in my book." Pyrrha said with her hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Thanks Pyrrha, that truly means a lot to me." Jaune acknowledged gratefully. "With all that said and done, I'm gonna go get settled in at my board, so I'll see you guys when we're done." Jaune then hurried over to board one without looking at the pairings.

"He didn't even look at the pairing sheet!" Nora pointed out. "What does Jaune think he is, a psychic?"

"He only has one opponent with the same score. Now that we're in the final round, playing against Cinder is pretty much unavoidable." Said Pyrrha. "On the other hand, it would be in our best interest to see whom we're playing." The group of friends all looked for their names and saw some interesting match-ups.

1

White: Jaune Arc (unr) 4.0

Black: Cinder Fall (1900) 4.0

2

White: Coco Adel (1500) 3.0

Black: Pyrrha Nikos (1700) 3.0

3

White: Mercury Black (1650) 3.0

Black: Weiss Schnee (1550) 2.5

4

White: Penny Polendina (unr) 2.5

Black: Velvet Scarlatina (unr) 2.0

5

White: Yatsuhashi Daichi (1750) 2.0

Black: Cardin Winchester (unr) 2.0

6

White: Dove Bronzewing (1600) 1.5

Black: Fox Alister (unr) 2.0

7

White: Ruby Rose (unr) 2.0

Black: Blake Belladonna (1350) 2.0

8

White: Emerald Sustrai (1450) 1.0

Black: Lie Ren (1250) 1.5

9

White: Yang Xiao Long (unr) 1.0

Black: Sky Lark (unr) 1.0

10

White: Nora Valkyrie (unr) 0

Black: Russell Thrush (unr) 0

"Talk about irony. Looks like the ladybug girls will have to duke it out." Nora joked.

"Ruby did beat her own sister, so I'm sure she'll have no hard feelings playing Blake." Ren simply stated.

"It looks like they're already having a friendly talk at their table." Pyrrha said with a smile as she observed Ruby and Blake at board seven. "After all, it's only a game."

* * *

While Jaune was waiting patiently at his table, Cardin came over to share a few words with the white knight.

"I had a serious discussion with Russell not too long ago. He almost dropped out of the tournament when he lost his morning game, but I finally convinced him to play this round."

"That's good to know, Cardin. I know from experience just how tempting it is to take the easy way out and quit. Honestly, I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for you and Pyrrha." Jaune said truthfully.

"Just do your best, Jaune. That's all that matters." Cardin said, doing the best he could to send positive vibes. As soon as he headed over to his own board, Cinder appeared and graciously introduced herself.

"Mr. Jaune Arc; where are my manners." Cinder greeted while adjusting herself into the opposite chair. "It is so exhilarating to finally… meet you in person."

"Believe me, the exhilaration is definitely all mine. Look Cinder, I can tell you right now, your grey-haired buddy was not quite as welcoming as you are when we were paired." Said Jaune, seeing through the phony respect coming from the dark-haired diva.

"Yes, I'm very well aware of Mercury's off-putting attitude. You see, he's always had a rough edge to his personality, so don't let his behavior get to you." Cinder said, becoming more zoned-in on Jaune's defensive mood.

"Right…" Jaune replied back as he looked over at the bionic hitman through his peripheral vision.

* * *

At board three, Weiss and Mercury had already settled in on their respective sides of the board. As usual, the latter was already in an eager mood to trash talk before getting started.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the heiress of Schnee Dust Company. I feel so honored to finally play someone as famous as yourself." Mercury said without putting in any effort to hide his sarcasm. "On a side note, it just so happens that you lost to the same knucklehead that beat me yesterday. Don't worry, the pain will heal soon."

"Shut up and set your clock." Weiss said, looking back at her opponent with a deadly scowl. The scar on her left eye added to the intensity of her piercing eyes, and for the first time in a long time, Mercury felt legitimately antagonized by the ice-cold response and had his cocky smirk changed to a bitter frown.

"You simple-minded bitch, your little happy fairy tale is about to come to a sad ending very soon. Hmph, I look forward to the day I can drive my steel boot up your frosty ass." The assassin thought to himself while adjusting the minutes on the clock.

"This nobody will never understand what true pride is all about. I may not respect Jaune as a student or a huntsman, but I am no longer afraid to admit that he's become a much stronger chess player than myself." Weiss thought while clinching a fist. Right at the 3:15 mark, Ozpin made his way to the podium to made his last announcement.

"I only need your attention for a short moment. I promise to make this quick since this is the last round." Everybody became silent so they could all focus on the headmaster. "The good piece of news I'm proud to share is in regards to our attendance. It might surprise you to know that this the most players we have had compete in a chess tournament here at Beacon, and also the first time that nobody has withdrawn from the tournament. All of this speaks great volumes for the will and discipline you all have as upcoming huntsman and huntresses." The majority of the players politely smiled and felt very positive from Ozpin's kind words, especially Team RWBY and Team JNPR. "Once all the games are completed for this round, we will calculate the post-ratings as soon as possible. Now that we've gotten that part out of the way, you may begin."

"Good luck to you." The players all whispered as they shook hands.

"This is it, Jaune; the final game of the tournament. Just play solid and look for tactics." The hero noted to himself. He then proceeded to make the first move.

1\. e4, d5

2\. exd5, Qxd5

"Why the heck would she do that!? Cinder should know not to bring the queen out so early. Looks like I'll have to develop and attack all at once." Jaune thought in the back of his mind.

3\. Nc3, Qa5

4\. d4, Nf6

5\. Nf3, Bf5

6\. Bd2, c6

7\. Bc4, e6

"The boy clearly knows what he's doing. Still, it's obvious he wants to trap my queen. Hmm, I should go grab some water while I can." Cinder gently moved out of her seat and walked away.

"If I make my move now, Cinder will lose time off her clock. And I know just the move to make her think." Jaune cunningly thought as he moved his knight."

8\. Nd5

"Heh, Cinder's gonna be in for a real shock when she sees the discovered attack on her queen. What's also great is that my knight is also threatening to fork the king and rook. Oh man, I feel so good about this move!" After five minutes, Cinder returned to the board but did not sit down. Instead, she looked at the move Jaune had made, and then shook her head and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Excellent. I knew he would play that predictable move. For that, I will show him what the Scandinavian Defense can really do to those who underestimate its true danger."

8\. …Qd8

After making her move, Cinder gracefully walked away from the table again.

"Well damn… that sure didn't go the way I hoped it would. And that look she gave it… it's like she thinks I'm stupid or something." Jaune gritted his teeth and became mentally flustered due to his trap not working.

9\. Nxf6+, Qxf6

10\. Bg5, Qg6

11\. Bd3, Bb4+

"Check." Cinder whispered

"Why the heck would she do that? I can play c3 and then… never mind, I can't do that. I'd be losing a bishop for nothing. I could bring my dark-squared bishop back to d2 and… crap baskets, that's also a blunder! Hmph, guess I have no choice but to move my king." Jaune noted.

12\. Kf1, Bxd3

13\. Qxd3, Qxd3

14\. cxd3, 0-0

"Oh, how the tables have turned so quickly." Cinder thought to herself with a sly grin.

"This is bad. All of the tactics have disappeared, yet I feel like I'm already in a losing position. My pawns are stacked in the center like sitting ducks, and I've lost the ability to castle!" Jaune panicked mentally. T"his isn't good; if I don't come up with the right plan, I'm dead meat."


	13. Chapter 13: Cornered

Chapter 13

In the amphitheater, Vinnie kept his attention on the board 1 monitor to give full moral support to his buddy. The clock had Cinder at an hour and fifty minutes, and Jaune down to an hour and a half. Both players had seven pawns, two rooks, a bishop, and a knight on the board; indicating that the material was even. However, Vinnie knew which side of the board was positionally stronger.

"You gotta hang in there, Jaune. Don't let her strategy get to you…" Vinnie muttered. "I was going to warn him… but he's an honorable man. I respect him for that."

* * *

Back at board 1, Jaune had still not made his move while Cinder waited patiently. At one point, he could hear the A/C and the electricity running through the hall due to the incredible silence.

"It's so quiet in here, I could probably hear a needle drop." Jaune thought in the back of his mind. "What am I thinking!? I can't just sit here and burn up my minutes. I have to do something!"

15\. g3, h6

16\. Be3, Nd7

17\. a3, Bd6

"I'm impressed he's made it this far without losing material. Either way, all I have to do is go into an endgame and target his doubled queen pawns." Cinder calculated. Before she made her move, another thought crossed the femme fatale's mind. "I still need to be careful though. Salem always said that the enemy is most dangerous when they're pushed into a corner."

18\. Re1, Nb6

19\. Ne5, Na4

20\. Nc4

"A very admirable move. Jaune figured out how to attack my bishop and defend his b2 pawn at the same time. For that, I rest my case."

20\. …Be7

21\. b3, Nb6

22\. Nxb6, axb6

"Cinder has stacked pawns just like I do." Jaune thought to himself, feeling just a little more positive about the game. "The only difference is that hers are well protected while mine are sitting ducks. If only I can somehow liquidate the board and remove my weak pawns."

23\. a4, Rfd8

24\. Ke2, Rd5

25\. Rc1, b5

* * *

While Vinnie was still watching the intense position, Nora cheerfully busted through the amphitheater doors singing "I'm queen of the castle." Professor Goodwitch, who was standing up on the stage with a tablet, sighed heavily and tried her best not to get annoyed by the boisterous pink-haired girl.

"Hey Vinnie! What's the scoop on Jaune?" Nora asked in an antsy manner.

"So far, not very good." Vinnie answered truthfully. "I take it you won your game."

"I sure did! It's my only victory in the tournament, but hey, at least I had fun! What's happening in the game so far?"

"Well, the material is even, but Cinder has a slight advantage. She just played a move which is challenging Jaune's a4 pawn. He should be okay as long as he doesn't take on b5." Vinnie explained thoroughly. Suddenly, the monitor displayed white capturing on b5, which was ironically the move that Vinnie was afraid of.

26\. axb5

"Damnit, Jaune! That's gonna cost you a pawn in two moves from now!" Vinnie cursed. Nora looked at the street hustler with a confused expression since she did not understand what was going on in the game. "I'm sorry… I just got a little carried away." After cooling down, the two spectators resumed watching the game unfold.

26\. …Rxb5

27\. Ra1, Ra3

"Wow, that was a close one." Vinnie sighed in relief.

"What's wrong? Was Jaune about to lose or something?" asked Nora.

"Believe me Nora, he dodged a mean bullet. I don't know exactly what's going on in the boy's head, but let's hope he doesn't make another blunder like that." Vinnie could only sit back and watch his friend fight for survival.

* * *

Right after Cinder pressed the clock, Jaune seized the moment to recover from his mistake so he could avoid losing a pawn.

28\. Rxa3, Bxa3

29\. Rb1, Kh7

30\. Bd2, Bb4

31\. Bxb4, Rxb4

"We're now in a rook and pawn endgame. It's time to get my king active and fight to the end." Jaune knew these types of endgames were very complicated, and that the slightest inaccuracy could lead to his downfall.

32\. Ke3, Kg6

33\. f4, Kf5

34\. h3, h5

"Cinder has both my king and my pawns paralyzed on the spot. In times like this, a prophylaxis can help stop the opponent from achieving what they want."

35\. Rb2, f6

36\. Rb1

"Why would Jaune move the same piece twice?" Cinder thought to herself. Suddenly, she saw through the diversion. "Now I understand; he's purposely trying to stall the game and play into a dead draw." Cinder almost dropped her poker face from the mere thought of her opponent's sneaky idea. "I won't allow that to happen! Not on my watch!"

36\. …g6

37\. Rb2, g5

38\. fxg5, Kxg5

39\. Rb1, h4

"I've learned from my previous mistake. I can't allow the kingside to open up."

40\. g4, Kg6

41\. Rb2, e5

Right after Cinder released her hand from the pawn, she felt a quick jolt in her chest.

"No… I grabbed the wrong piece! I thought about moving my king, but somehow that idea slipped my mind." Cinder thought very bitterly to herself. "It's not over yet. He'll have to prove himself if he thinks he can outplay me."

42\. dxe5, fxe5

43\. Rf2, Rxb3

44\. Rf5, b5

45\. Rxe5, b4

"Curses! I forgot about the rook!" Now it was the villainess who was losing her focus and making one bad move after another.

46\. Re6+, Kf7

47\. Rxc6

"I don't believe this! Out of all the games I have played in the tournament, this is the only one where I'm down material! He'll pay dearly for making a fool out of me!"

47\. …Rb2

48\. Rb6, b3

Jaune knew what move he wanted to play, but then an idea came to his mind. He studied the position for about a minute and saw no possible way to force a win.

"You wanna call it a draw?" Jaune asked.

"Not until you make your move." Cinder whispered back with a cold stare. Jaune obliged and did what he needed to do.

49\. Kf4

"Alright, fine. I agree to the draw."

"Good game." Jaune whispered back and offered a handshake, but Cinder had already gotten up from her chair and left. He stayed behind to place all the pieces and reset the clock, while the fired-up woman recorded the result and wrote ½-½ on the pairing sheet. At that point, there was only one game left to finish; Coco vs Pyrrha. Without being a distraction, Jaune chose to watch in person before going anywhere else. The two young women were in a neck-to-neck rook and pawn endgame, but instead of a closed center that occurred in Jaune's game, they were in an open footrace to see who could promote their passed pawn first. In order to better focus on the position, Coco gently removed her trademark beret and aviators; which was a very rare thing to see the leader of Team CFVY do.

"Wow, she looks a totally different person without the shades and the hat." Jaune observed. He also made note of Pyrrha's passed pawn, which was racing down the kingside while Coco's pawn was advancing on the queenside. Because the white rook was guarding the entire backrank, Pyrrha could not push her pawn to h1 just yet. Instead, she decided the move her rook to the open g-file.

"She found the first winning move. Pyrrha is ahead in tempo, which gives her enough time to activate her rook and breach into white's camp." Jaune analyzed. Coco then pushed her pawn to a6 and stopped her clock. For the final blow, Pyrrha swung her rook all the way down to the g1 square, pinning the white rook to the white king. Realizing that there was no way to prevent the pawn from promoting, the fashionista quietly tipped her king and resigned.

"Good game." The two ladies whispered and shook hands.

"We should go over the game sometime when we're not busy." Pyrrha suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, one more thing. Be sure to keep your man outta trouble." Coco gave a wink before putting back on her beret and sunglasses. The tall brunette then walked over to the board and wrote down the result on the pairing sheet.

"You heard the girl. I have to keep my eye on you." Pyrrha teased. "Let's go find the others." Before they could leave the tournament hall, everybody that was either a participant or a spectator had entered through the double doors.

"What's everybody doing in here? The round's over now." Jaune said, looking very perplexed.

"That's exactly where there here. Professor Ozpin is going to announce the winners and give out prizes." Pyrrha clarified. Eventually, Team RWBY, Ren, and Nora made the through the crowd and found the two friends.

"Nice win, Pyrrha!" Yang complimented. "Coco's a strong opponent, but you're the real deal!"

"All kidding aside, that was a great game." Blake added. Pyrrha politely smiled and appreciated the praise she was getting from her close friends.

"Oh, here's the other cool thing that happened." Ruby interjected. "Weiss and Blake actually delivered checkmate right at the same time. It's like their minds were connected somehow! Of course, I was the one who lost to Blakey, but it's all good."

"Wait, so if Weiss won her game, that means she…"

"Defeated Mercury." Ren answered for Pyrrha.

"You should've seen the look he had when Weiss sacrificed her queen to give a smothered mate. It was awesome!" Yang blurted. Jaune looked around the and eventually saw Cinder and her cohorts sitting all the way in the back. The three of them looked rather sour, which was not very surprising. Amongst the commotion of people chatting, Ozpin and his faculty approached the podium to say a few words.

"If I could have everybody's attention. It's been a very long weekend for all of us, and I know most of you are not looking forward to going to your morning classes." Everybody in the audience chuckled for a short moment. "Anyway, I would like to take this time to award our top three players in the tournament, so when I call your name, please come forward to receive your prize. In third place, with a total of four points is Ms. Pyrrha Nikos." Everybody clapped for the gladiator as she approached the podium. Professor Port then presented a $25 check to Pyrrha, who then walked back into the crowd. "In a very unexpected turnout, we have two players who are both tied for first place; Ms. Cinder Fall and Mr. Jaune Arc." The applause continued as Jaune and Cinder made their way to the front. Goodwitch and Dr. Oobleck gave Cinder and Jaune each a $75 check respectively, which was essentially $150 divided between the two of them. "While the monetary prize is easily split, the only thing left to do is decide whom to award the trophy." Jaune and Cinder had their full attention just the hearing the word "trophy." "Typically, the most common tradition for VCF tournaments is to give it to the player with the highest tiebreak score. However, my staff and I have agreed to have the tie settled in a more practical manner. Our two finalists with settle this in a rapid game with fifteen minutes for both sides. In addition, they will be playing as the opposite color pieces from their previous game."

"This will be my chance for redemption." Cinder meditated.

"The match will start at 7:00 sharp in order to give both players the time they need to mentally prepare." Ozpin continued. "Attendance is optional for those who wish to spectate, but please be very well aware that the doors will be locked as soon as the match begins in order to avoid distraction. It is 6:15 right now, which gives us all forty-five minutes to prepare. For those who are leaving now, we wish you safe travels. Everyone else, remember to be in the amphitheater on time." After Ozpin finished his speech, he reached for his scroll and quickly sent a message to everyone on Team JNPR except for Jaune. As soon as the message went through, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora felt their scrolls vibrate. She then opened it and read the letter without saying anything out loud.

* * *

To: Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren

From: Ozpin

Please come to my office as soon as you get this message. It's about the secret from our previous discussion. Mr. Arc will need to be present for this as well.

* * *

"What was that message?" Jaune asked.

"We're being summoned to the office. That's all it says." Pyrrha answered without giving everything away. Ren and Nora both nodded at each other and then all four of them left together. Oblivious to what was going on, the only thing Jaune could go was go with the flow.

"What it is they know that I don't." Jaune pondered. "And where the heck did Vinnie go?"


	14. Chapter 14: The Rank of Grandmaster

Chapter 14

Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald had just exited out of the hall for a break before the start of the match. Initially, they were counting on finishing the tournament immediately after the fifth round had ended, but they were still not too worried about a little overtime. However, they did not realize that Vinnie, who was finishing his smoke break, was still outside but out of their sight. The homeless chess player had a gut feeling to lay low and not be seen.

"There's something odd about those three. I know game when I see, and there clearly up to no good." Vinnie thought to himself. He quietly snuck around the exterior of the amphitheater and remained hidden.

"Merc, any idea what Jaune opens with as black?" Emerald asked while still walking away from the doors.

"I know he beat moneybags with the French, and I think that's what he wanted to play against me. The only problem is that it only works if white plays e4." Said Mercury.

"I know you two are concerned about how I will fare in my upcoming game, but fear not my children, I know how to handle the boy." Cinder said, cutting into the small talk. Before anyone else could comment, a familiar presence lingered in the area that only the alpha female could detect. Cinder came to a complete halt and then her eyes flickered orange, but she had to restrain her powers to avoid suspicion from her two personal assassins.

"Mercury, Emerald, I wish to be alone at this time. If you know what's best, I suggest waiting inside for now." Mercury was about to question his boss's order, but Emerald grabbed his shoulder and signaled him to comply. As soon as the pair made it completely inside the dome, Cinder reignited her aura and looked directly at a suspicious oak tree.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to mind your own business, Arthur!?" Cinder called out, with emphasis on the name of whom she was stating. She then conjured up a fire orb about the size of a basketball and blasted it towards the tree. Before the fire could make contact, Watts came out of hiding and intercepted the attack by countering with an electric shockwave from his steampunk themed revolver. The force from each blast was perfectly even, and the attacks were both negated.

"Still fired up over the draw, apparently." Watts snickered as the smoke cleared. "And yes, the pun was purely intended."

"Hmph, I'm surprised you didn't let the tree take the hit for you." Cinder retorted to the wisecrack.

"That's because I'd rather keep things civilized and NOT blow our cover." Watts said as he retracted his gun back into the holster. "And besides, it would be a real shame to see you standing tall in front of Salem for incompetent behavior." Hearing the sharp comeback put a sting to Cinder's ego as she knew that any wrong move could jeopardize both her own faction as well as her master's plan. The hot-headed female begrudgingly reverted back to normal and fizzled out the fire in her eyes.

"What business do you have at Beacon anyway!?" Cinder snapped. "I hope it wasn't just to eavesdrop on my own associates with your outdated gadgets!"

"Ah, so you did find the device after all." Watts presumed. "The street rat must have done a poor job in keeping it well hidden." Cinder's eyes glanced up when she soon realized that Watts had an accomplice involved. "No matter, that was only to make sure that you and your posse weren't getting too distracted with the tournament. We have a mission and it must be fulfilled."

"You're one to talk a big game, Watts. I don't see any benefit in you being here." Cinder sneered.

"That is where I have to correct your accusation. I have done my work by knocking two birds with one stone." Watts defended without delay. "After making a reasonable bargain, I assigned my accomplice to upload the black queen virus in order to weaken the firewall systems within the school wifi. Coincidentally, it just so happened that I was able to access the tournament database; which to me was icing on the cake."

"You're the one who manipulated my pairings!" Cinder shouted. "I could've had that naïve boy crushed a lot sooner if it wasn't for you interfering!" Although the tournament was irrelevant in the conversation; nevertheless, she did not like the mere thought of someone else pulling the strings.

"Quite frankly, it would be far too anti-climactic to have the two of you play before round 5, and it was the least I could do to entertain my assistant's enthusiasm for chess." Watts paused to take a quick glance at his pocket watch and then tucked it under his maroon vest. "As I was saying, it was also very easy to advantage of the school's library being unattended, which gave me the opportunity to hack into archives and emails that contained crucial information." Cinder's skeptical look became more curious as to what her colleague could be referring to.

"This had better be worth our damn time if it means anything to our mistress." Cinder said impatiently.

"You'd be very foolish to think that I came here just to lollygag. What I have found is something that only Ozpin and his inner-circle know about, and I can't begin to stress how confidential this information is." Before he could carry on with his soliloquy, Watts sensed an unwanted guest in the area, which just so happened to be Vinnie spying on the private conversation. The malignant aristocrat slyly grinned and perked his mustache, knowing that the one listening in was the hustler that he personally hired. "Check your scroll as soon as possible. If you can't do it tonight, that's fine, but I know this is something you will not want to forgo." Cinder could not resist knowing what her colleague had in store for her. She quickly pulled out her scroll, and right when it booted on, she saw a cursive W in the upper-left corner of the screen and tapped it. As Cinder browsed through, she froze in amazement when she saw a picture of a large empty chamber with checkered tile floor and gigantic marble pillars. The next picture was a real gem for the femme fatale, which had Amber; the fall maiden that she and her cronies had ambushed originally, half-naked and incapacitated in a life support machine.

"This is incredible! Arthur, I must know where she-." Before Cinder could ask anything else, Watts gave the signal to stay quiet and not blurt anything out.

"I still do not know where the girl is being kept." Watts answered truthfully. "I have already searched throughout Mistral and she was nowhere to be found. I have very little doubt that she is under close supervision by the great professor himself. You'll need to search every inch of this school to know where she's being held."

"For once, I have to thank you for such a dubious pleasure." Cinder said with light sarcasm. "I can see why Salem puts a lot of faith in you when it comes to analytical work."

"The pleasure is all mine. Although my job here is done, there is still one thing left to do." Judging by the hinting tone coming from Watts, Cinder was now expecting the mustached gentleman to stick around for her final game."

"So be it. After I beat the kid, I might actually invite you and Hazel out for a drink." Said Cinder.

"Splendid. I know of a good tavern the three of us can go to. I'll even bring our informant from Mistral to help him get acquainted with the rest of us." Watts stated. "Give Mr. Arc a game he'll never forget. I do look forward to an entertaining match." With nothing else to say, Cinder bid farewell and headed for the dome.

"That man is a real piece of work. As arrogant as Watts is, he's still very sharp and reliable." Cinder thought in the back of her mind. With less time to spare, she made it back inside the amphitheater. Vinnie did not feel safe coming out of hiding yet, but regardless, it did him no good.

"You can come out now, Vincent. I promise not to bite." Watts taunted. Vinnie hesitantly came out from the corner he was behind, and saw the shady man waiting patiently. "Much better. I know you still have the scroll in your possession. If you would kindly give it back…" he said with his fingerless glove open.

"I don't see what good it will do me now. It's just a silly gadget anyway." Vinnie deprecated, handing the scroll to the devious doctor.

"You've done a kind favor for me, but the time has come for us to go our separate ways." Watts said while pocketing the device away.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Doc. I was just now getting ready to put in my two-week notice." Vinnie joked back.

"At least our thoughts are mutual for once." Watts responded. "Now heed my words when I say this, Mr. Trailburn." Vinnie braced himself and was ready for whatever it is that had to be said. "If you even dare to speak out to anyone about me, Cinder, or anything you overheard, you will answer deeply for it and face the most undesirable consequences." While making the clear statement, Watts held a red string with a kunai tied to one end and then tightened the loose area in a threatening demeanor. At first, the hustler thought the object was simply a rope with an attached blade, but after taking an even closer look, the string seemed unnatural. Vinnie realized that the material was from a living organism, and still had some life left in it. It was also the final straw that made Vincent Trailburn understand the full danger of Dr. Arthur Watts. He felt as though he had unintentionally done a deal with the devil, and there was no way out of it.

"What kind of a sick man are you!?" Vinnie demanded.

"A man who keeps his word and respects professional manners." Watts retaliated. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Vincent. Those nice clothes should act as a fabulous momentum of our relationship. I bid you farewell." Watts took a few steps back and quickly pitched a metal ball at the ground, which exploded on contact. A flash of sparking light forced Vinnie to cover his eyes with his arm to avoid being blinded. As soon as it was safe to look around, Dr. Watts was nowhere to be seen.

"He's gone." Vinnie muttered. "I don't know what those two are scheming, but I've got a bad feeling about all this…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Beacon Tower.

"Alright, smiles everybody. We're about to see the boss man." Nora prepped. Team JNPR had just gotten off the elevator on the top floor, and now they were getting ready to walk into the office of their well-respected headmaster. Ren closed the door once all four of them made it inside, and they were surprised to see General Ironwood and Penny finishing a conversation.

"Time is of the essence Oz, and I'm afraid we cannot stay any longer." Ironwood stated regretfully. "I'm just as much as a chess enthusiast as you are, but my duties have to come first."

"I understand, James. We do appreciate you letting Ms. Polendina participate in our school event." Ozpin acknowledged. "I wish safe travels for you on your way back to Atlas."

"We can only hope for the best. Penny, we must go now." After turning around to face the door, the commanding officer felt the need to complement the hopeful champ.

"I'm very impressed with your skill, Mr. Arc. You'd make a fine master with your abilities." Ironwood said with praise. He then gave Jaune a salute and passed by. Penny was still following behind, but also wanted to praise the hero for his great effort.

"It's been a real pleasure watching your games, Jaune Arc. I wish the beck of luck to you in the final endeavor." Penny bowed politely and followed her boss out of the office. After the door closed, it was time to get down to business.

"You might find it hard to believe, but General Ironwood is a real fan of the game. He even has a small rivalry with the CEO of Schnee Dust Company." Ozpin said casually. "If I were to guess, I'd say that they are evenly matched." This made Jaune think about Weiss and the pressure that she must have been under, back when she was a more active tournament player.

"Sir… after playing against Cinder in our previous round, I know she's far more experienced than me. I can't win at this rate..." Jaune said nervously.

"Are you nuts!? You're the best freakin' player at this school! I know you can kick her butt!" Nora shouted. Ren facepalmed and shook his head, feeling extremely embarrassed in front of Oz.

"Nora has a very good point. You're thinking way too hard about this and it's only going to hurt your confidence even more!" Pyrrha assertively stated.

"Children, settle down please! I didn't call the four of you to have a debate." Ren, who was the only one that had not said a word, sighed in relief. "Three of you know what I'm about to do, so I only ask for a little bit of cooperation."

"Yes, sir." Team JNPR apologized at the same time.

"To some extent, I can relate to what you're saying, Mr. Arc." Ozpin resumed. "You might actually be right. I'm not supposed to say that, but you would know I was lying if I said anything else." A moment of silence passed with the enormous cogs and gears acting as the only background noise. "I have something for you. Ozpin then opened a briefcase containing a frame with only the back showing. He diligently picked up the frame without revealing the frontside, giving Jaune a bit of suspense. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha looked at each other and smiled because they knew exactly what was about to be presented to their team leader. "It says, this is to certify, that Jaune Arc, on this day, has in the eyes of his both his teacher and his closest friends, attained the rank of Grandmaster." Ozpin flipped the frame over to reveal a prestigious certificate with the exact words that were read out loud. A beautiful image of Beacon Tower was displayed on the right side, and a depiction of a noble knight on a white horse was shown on the left. Ozpin's signature was inserted near the bottom to validate the certificate. He then gently handed it to Jaune so that his pupil could take the time to admire and appreciate such a genuine reward. The strong vibe that made Jaune tear up was the fact that he knew it was made specifically for him and it was meant to reflect his character. "I have never been so proud of anyone in a very long time. I am honored to call myself your teacher." Not able to control it any longer, Jaune leaped from his neutral standing position and hugged Ozpin tightly. Tears were running from down from the boy's eyes, while the stoic mentor smiled and returned the hug back with a single arm on Jaune's shoulder, proving that he really does have a soft side. Pyrrha covered both of her hands over her chest and was smitten by the fact that she had never seen her leader so elated.

I'm very thankful for having you all as my friends. I wouldn't be here without any of you." Jaune said while wiping away his happy tears. "We should head back down now."

* * *

It was now ten minutes before the start of the tiebreaker round. Team RWBY was casually waiting around in the lobby, unaware of what was going on with Team JNPR.

"Barf boy had better be quick if he wants to throw down." Said Yang. The Prima Donna is already at the table."

"He'll make in time." Ruby answered back. "I hope…"

"It's obvious that Cinder wants to settle this once and for all. Even she would be disappointed to not be able to avenge the draw." Vinnie spoke from behind the girls and briefly startled them.

"Vinnie! You're back!" Ruby said cheerfully.

"We haven't seen you a whole lot today. Is everything okay?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, I just had to go out for a smoke break not too long ago. I was also enjoying the scenery of the campus." The cat faunus narrowed her eyes and sensed that Vinnie was not telling the full story. Either way, she did not feel the need to pry into his business. Eventually, Jaune entered through the doors and had the determined look on his face that made him look like a whole different person. Weiss was the first one to get up from her seat and say something beforehand.

"Jaune, I know you're very preoccupied right now, but I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I've treated you." Jaune's eyebrow perked because he was not entirely sure what the heiress was talking about.

"It's all good, Weiss." Jaune responded. "Not that you did anything wrong, but I'm glad to see you in a better mood."

"Well, it's just that I've never lost to anyone lower rated than me, let alone unrated." Weiss took a deep breath as she was preparing to admit something that would shock the other girls. "I finally realize that you are a much stronger player than I am, and I think Ozpin did a great job coaching you." Ruby, Blake, and Yang were absolutely stunned as it was extremely rare to listen to Weiss put herself below someone else, let alone the weakest and least experienced student at Beacon.

"That's… definitely not the snow queen we all know." Yang said while still in a state of shock.

"Thanks, Weiss. It was very- hold on a minute, how did you-!"

"Let's just say I had a little hunch about it. Anyway, I don't want to keep you from your game. Best of luck." Yang gave a thumbs-up while Ruby and Blake both politely smiled to wish the white knight good luck. As Jaune started to head for the arena, he was stopped once again.

"Jaune!" Weiss called out instantly to say one last thing. "Win this." Jaune nodded politely and proceeded to the fight pit. Cinder was already seated at the board, with the pieces already in place. Taking a deep breath, Jaune bravely walked up to the empty chair and got himself comfortable. They did not say anything to each other, but there plenty of thoughts racing through their heads. Team JNPR had just made it inside about five minutes before the match was about to begin. They saw where Team RWBY was seated in the dead center of the spectator section, and figured it would be okay to mingle with them. After getting comfortable, Mercury approached the redheaded gladiator from behind.

"It's unsettling, isn't it? When you realize there are only so many things you can do to help a friend in need." Pyrrha did not bother to turn back and acknowledge Mercury's snide remark. "Then again, they are who they are... good luck." The steel-toed flunkie walked away and sat next to Emerald near the front.

"Good luck." Pyrrha muttered to herself. All of the sudden, Ren did not feel at ease and had the natural inclination to scan the surroundings.

"Someone's a bit antsy in the pantsy. What's up?" Nora teased.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I can't help but feel like we're being watched." Ren answered candidly. Vinnie remained quiet and pretended like everything was just fine. On the other hand, the girls looked around to see if there was anything suspicious, but the only things apparent to them were the small black bulbs which concealed the security cameras. "I apologize; it's probably my imagination." Just in time, Ozpin and Goodwitch made their appearance to finally start and judge the last game.

"Thank you all for being here tonight." Ozpin said to the crowd. "We are glad to see the majority of everyone here to watch the last match of the tournament be settled here once and for all. In this game, Ms. Fall will have the honor of playing the white pieces, and Mr. Arc will respectively play black. Should the game end in draw, then we will have to proceed to sudden death." Ozpin gave Goodwitch the signal to proceed with the next course of action. She clicked on her scroll and suddenly, a faint blue barrier surrounded the arena. "Luckily for our contestants, this soundproof barrier will prevent them from hearing any distraction from outside the perimeter. On the other hand, you as spectators can hear them from the inside. With that in mind, you are free to talk amongst each other, but you may not pass through the barrier. Professor Goodwitch will be the referee, and I'll let her take it from here."

"Ms. Fall and Mr. Arc, we've already gone over the rules several times throughout the tournament. You are both champions and I expect this to be a clean and fair match. Obey my commands at all times, and do not speak unless it is absolutely necessary. The clock is already configured to start immediately at 7:00 sharp, so if there aren't any questions, please shake hands and wait for the countdown to finish." Cinder and Jaune shook hands reluctantly while Goodwitch stepped over to the side to carefully observe. Meanwhile, Ozpin walked out of the ring, and sat next to his two favorite first year teams.

"I hope you all don't mind letting an old man like me sit with you." He joked.

"You're the coolest professor at Beacon! You know we're not gonna turn you down!" Nora answered back energetically.

With only ten seconds left, Jaune and Cinder were both in a silent stare down, as their way of proving that neither one was afraid of the other. As soon as the countdown ended, it was white to play.

1\. d4, Nf6

2\. c4, g6

3\. Nc3, d5

4\. e3, Bg7

5\. Nf3, 0-0

6\. Bd3, c6

"An even start. I like where this is going." Blake commented.

7\. Bd2, Bg4

8\. h3, Bxf3t

9\. Qxf3, e6

10\. 0-0, Nbd7

11\. e4, dxe4

12\. Nxe4, Nxe4

13\. Qxe4

"Don't do it, Jaune. Don't even think about it." Ozpin said sternly.

"Bring her out, Jaune." Vinnie said, trying to contradict the headmaster.

"Keep her back." Ozpin muttered.

"Bring her out..." Vinnie said impatiently. Ozpin's eyes looked over to the side and casted a distraught look at the hustler.

13\. …Qb6

"Oh Jesus…" Ozpin muttered and shook his head in disbelief. Ruby was too afraid to ask, so she felt it was better to not say anything.

14\. Bc3, Nf6

15\. Qh5, Rad8

16\. Be2, Rd7

17\. Rfd1, Rfd8

18\. c5, Qc7

19\. Bf3, Nd5

20\. Bxd5, Rxd5

21\. Qg4, Qd7

22\. h4, Bxd4

"There it is!" Vinnie exclaimed. "I taught him that."

"Minor setback. There's still plenty of action left on the board to win." Cinder thought to herself.

23\. Bxd4, Rxd4

24\. Rxd4, Qxd4

25\. Qxd4, Rxd4

26\. g3, h5

"He missed a strong move. Rc4 would've won another pawn." Said Weiss.

"Jauney's still up a pawn, so at least we know he's not losing." Yang said with assurance.

27\. b3, Kf8

28\. Kf1, Rd2

29\. b4, Rb2

30\. a3, Ke7

31\. Kg2, Rb3

32\. Ra2, e5

33\. Re2, f6

34\. f4, Ke6

"Phew, close call. I'd hate to have to give a pawn back so soon." Jaune thought with relief.

35\. Rd2, exf4

36\. gxf4, Rxa3

37\. Rd6+, Ke7

38\. Rd4, Ra4

39\. Re4+, Kd7

40\. Rd4+, Ke6

41\. Kf3, a5

42\. Rd6+, Ke7

43\. b5

"That was a mistake." Ozpin said in shock."

"What does Oz mean? Who made the mistake?" Ruby asked the group.

"It's there, Jaune. The rest is all elementary." Pyrrha said, indirectly supporting Ozpin's claim.

Jaune studied the position some more and calculated at least three of the best variations that could happen. Once he saw what was in his best interest, it was time to get his game on.

"Alright, Cinder. Time to throw down." Jaune knew at this point he had full control of the situation.

43\. …cxb5

44\. Rb6, Rc4

45\. Rxb5, a4

46\. Rxb7+, Ke6

47\. Rb6+, Kf5

48\. c6, Rxf4+

49\. Kg3, Rc4

50\. Rb5+, Ke6

"Am I actually going to lose!?" Cinder did the best she could not to drop the poker face.

51\. Rb6, a3

52\. Ra6, a2

53\. c7+, Kd7

54\. Rxa2, Rxc7

55\. Rd2+, Ke6

56\. Re2+, Kf7

57\. Re3, Re7

58\. Rd3, g5

59\. hxg5, fxg5

60\. Rf3+, Kg6

"I won't accept this! I refuse to go down!" Feeling too frustrated, there was no way the diva could hide the look of fear. Her emotions also had a domino effect on her cohorts, who were both too afraid to even look straight up at the action. Emerald and Mercury had their eyes glued to the floor, and could not bear to watch their mistress be defeated by somebody they loathed.

61\. Rb3, Rf7

62\. Rb8, h4+

63\. Kg2, g4

64\. Rh8, Rh7

65\. Rg8+, Rg7

66\. Rh8, Kg5

67\. Rb8, Rf7

68\. Rg8+, Kf4

69\. Rh8, h3+

70\. Kh2, Kf3

71\. Rg8

"My rook is still behind the base of his pawn chain. This should keep me alive and hopefully force a draw." Cinder was mentally more relaxed at this point, because now she thought it would be easier not to lose.

"Shoot, this might not be a win after all." A slip of doubt lingered in Jaune's mind, but that didn't mean he was ready to offer a draw. "Her rook is still very active, and my time's almost up. Come on, think Jaune! What would Ozpin say if he were to look at this position."

"This is bad. If Jaune doesn't do something fast, he'll run out of time." Pyrrha said with worry.

"He could always force a draw and go into sudden death." Yang suggested.

"I dunno. Knowing Jaune, he's not the kind of the guy to take the easy way out." Ren added.

"Exactly! No risk, no reward!" Vinnie said, agreeing with Ren observation.

"The only way I can win if to force Cinder to sac her rook for at least one of my pawns. If I don't do that, then I'll have to force a draw just to play another round." Jaune looked over the position even deeper. Once he found the perfect solution, a tiny grin appeared on his face. "I'll just beat her now." He thought.

"Did Jaune… smile just now?" said Weiss.

"He sure did, Ms. Schee." Ozpin answered with a smile of his own. "He's got it."

"What do mean he's got it? How do you know this, professor?" Yang questioned.

"Believe me Ms. Xiao Long, he's got it." Ozpin repeated, even happier that time.

71\. …Rf4

72\. Rg7, Kf2

73\. Rg6, Kf1

74\. Kg3, Rf2

75\. Rxg4, h2,

76\. Rh4, Rg2+

Cinder's hand trembled in fear as she now realized there was no way to save herself from losing. For the sake of her pride, she chose to play it out and not surrender just yet.

77\. Kf3, Kg1

78\. Ra4, h1=Q

79\. Ra1+, Kh2

80\. Rxh1, Kxh1

It was Cinder's lone king against Jaune's king and rook, which she knew was sufficient material to deliver an inevitable checkmate. Humiliated and defeated, the lady in red tipped her king and resigned.

"Good game." Jaune said. Cinder took a deep breath and looked back at the boy who defeated her. She nodded and then made her exit out of the arena and then through the exit doors. The barrier came down, and everybody minus Mercury and Emerald rushed over to congratulate the new champion.

"My man, Jaune! You did it! You're the champ!" Vinnie cheered. He gave Jaune a high-five and then stepped away to let others interact. Pyrrha instantly hugged and embraced the winner tightly.

"I'm so proud of you!" Pyrrha said with tears of joy in her eyes.

"I'm just glad you're always here for me, Pyrrha. Win or lose." Jaune said sincerely.

"I know, Jaune. That's why you're the winner no matter what." The couple hugged each other again and the cheers and applause continued.

"You're alright, Jaune! You're alright. Good game!" Yang gave Jaune a friendly punch to the shoulder. In the midst of all the excitement and happiness, Ozpin and Goodwitch watched the students from a distance.

"Tell me Oz, if you could write a book about Mr. Arc's chess journey, what would you call it? Glynda asked rhetorically.

"I think you already know that answer, Glynda." Ozpin said with a proud smile. "The only true title would have to be _Searching for Bobby Fischer_.


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

 _The next day_

Jaune had just finished the last class for the day and was ready to go for a peaceful stroll around campus. After a long and stressful weekend, he had no desire to think about chess, but did not mind the praise from his peers regarding the tournament. Jaune initially thought about going straight to his room to change out of uniform, but decided to enjoy the outside weather, when suddenly, a girl in red approached from behind.

"Hey Jaune!" Ruby called out, unintentionally startling the boy. "I wanted to say congrats once again for yesterday."

"Hey Ruby! Wow, you sure took me by surprise." Jaune chuckled.

"You don't look busy, so I take it you're not heading to the dorm. What's on your mind?" Ruby asked.

"Oh nothing, just trying to unwind myself from the tournament. You're welcome to join me for a walk." The white knight offered.

"Of course! Walks are fun every now and then!" Ruby said cheerfully. During their casual walk, Jaune gave the silver-eyed girl some constructive feedback on her last round game against Blake.

"You had the right idea in mind, but if you had taken back with the knight instead of the queen, you could've given two of Blake's pieces a ton of harassment." Jaune critiqued. "Knights are often overlooked because of their short range, but they have the most deadly fork out of all the pieces."

"Yeah, I gotta work on exchanges. It's so hard having to calculate all these variations." Ruby admitted.

"Hey Ruby… wanna know a secret?" Jaune asked politely.

"Um, sure. If you really don't mind sharing it." Ruby curiously replied.

"You're a much stronger player than I was at your age." Ruby's eyes widened in shock, but she also sensed that Jaune was being very genuine with the compliment.

"Thanks." Ruby smiled as they held hands and walked. They felt a gentle breeze, which signified a big future for Team RWBY and JNPR.

 _Four months later, the Vytal Festival had taken place, which was then sabotaged by Cinder's faction and the creatures of Grimm. Even though the dorm had become nothing but rubble and debris, Jaune had still managed to retrieve and preserve the trophy and certificate, despite minor damages. The loss of Ozpin and Pyrrha, whom were undeniably his greatest mentors and close friends, gave Jaune the incentive to better himself as a huntsman and as a person. The noble hero promised to return to playing chess competitively, so that he could legitimately earn the grandmaster title. As much as he wanted it, Jaune knew that chess would have to wait because of the bigger tasks at hand: doing everything he could to help Ruby Rose in her journey to Mistral, and discovering his semblance. It was the least he could do to honor Pyrrha, and also make a difference to those around him._

 _Before Pyrrha's death, Jaune recalled a powerful quote which he shared with his dear best friend._

" _Nothing is so healing as the human touch." (Robert James Fischer, 1943 – 2008)_


End file.
